IMPHAL, May 7: An under trial prisoner charged of raping a minor girl under Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012 was found dead inside the campus of the Sajiwa Central Jail today.
The deceased under trail prisoner has been identified as S Ngoupuni, 66 alias Ngaopuni son of Late Seiba from Liyai Khullen but stayed at Imphal Paomei Colony.
Reports said S Ngoupuni was supposed to be produced before the court of A Guneshwar Sharma, Special Judge (POCSO), Manipur East at Uripok Cheirap Court today in connection with the charges framed against him.
The prisoner went out of the jail room where he was kept to take bath at around 9 am to get ready for appearance in the court. After he failed to return back to his room from bath for long, the jail authority searched for him but found dead with injury marks on his head at a place inside the jail campus.
He was rushed to JNIMS Hospital for treatment but succumbed to the injuries. A case has been registered with the Heingang Police Station, Imphal East in connection with the incident.
The dead body has been handed over to the deceased`™s family after performing post mortem at JNIMS morgue, the reports added.
Talking to this daily following the incident, advocate S Shyamcharan alias Sanou who is the counsel of the deceased under trial prisoner said that S Ngoupuni was arrested by police on charges of raping a 14-year minor girl on April 19 last.
He further said that police charged S Ngoupuni of raping the minor girl on April 17 around 12 pm after the accused took the girl who is also from the same locality on the pretext of letting her cast vote in the last Lok Sabha election.
Heingang police registered a case against him under FIR No 30 (4) 2014 HNG PS U/S 376/420 IPC and Section 4 of POSCO Act, 2012. After arresting him, the accused was remanded to police custody. Later, he was lodged in Sajiwa Jail after the court remanded him to judicial custody, he elaborated.
The counsel maintained that appeals were made before the court for four times to grant bail to the accused to receive medical treatment after his client was diagnosed with Dementia by doctors at RIMS and JNIMS but the pleas were rejected by the court.