33 victims, more than two lakhs videos; UP junior engineer and wife  sentenced to death for raping minors, filming and selling videos on dark web

LUCKNOW: A couple has been sentenced to death in the case of sexually abusing minor children in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh and selling the footage on the dark web. A special POCSO court in Banda has sentenced Ram Bhawan, a junior engineer of the Irrigation Department, and his wife Durga Devi, a native of Chitrakoot.

The verdict has now been delivered in an incident that took place six years ago. The couple brutally raped children aged between five and sixteen and sold the footage on the dark web. In addition to the death penalty, the court also announced financial assistance to the families of the victims. The court ordered the state and central governments to provide financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each.

They trapped around 33 children, including those from the neighbourhood and acquaintances. After sexually abusing the children, they recorded the footage on their mobile phones and later sold it to foreigners, including through the dark web, earning huge sums of money.

The CBI team arrested the couple in October 2020. The police got crucial information during a search of the accused's house. Eight lakh rupees in cash, 12 mobile phones, two laptops, a hard disk and six pen drives were found during the search. A large number of obscene visuals and pictures were recovered from these during forensic examination.

The court found the accused guilty under the IPC, POCSO Act and IT Act. The statements of children aged between four and 22 were included in the chargesheet. The court also found that Durgavati tried to influence witnesses to sabotage the case. The CBI has also arrested a Delhi native in the case.