&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "UP couple sentenced to death for abusing 33 minors, selling videos on dark web")
In a landmark judgment, A couple in Uttar Pradesh has been sentenced to death after being convicted in a case of sexual abuse of 33 boys over a decade, some being as young as three and selling the photographs and clips of the torture to buyers across 47 countries through the dark web.
Additional district judge at Banda court, PK Mishra, categorised the crimes as "rarest of rare", stating that the convicts Ram Bhawan (50) and Durgavati (47) inflicted such physical and psychological torture on the survivors that some required hospitalisation for injuries to their private parts and a few developed squint eyes.
"The sheer scale of this victimisation across multiple districts, combined with the extreme moral turpitude of the convicts, marks this as a crime of such an exceptional and heinous nature that it leaves no room for reformation, necessitating the ultimate judicial deterrent to meet the ends of justice," the judgment reads.
The investigations revealed that Ram Bhawan, a former junior engineer at the UP Irrigation department, along with his wife Durgavati, committed these crimes in the Banda and Chitrakoot regions between 2010 and 2020.
Bhavan, used to lure children by giving them access to online games or by offering them gifts or many, and would sexually abuse them at his rented house with the help of his wife, while recording the act for sale on the dark web.
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Their criminal enterprise came to light when Interpol alerted CBI during an investigation into the dissemination of content showing child sex abuse on the dark web.
CBI registered an FIR on Oct 31, 2020 and filed a charge sheet in 2021, within months after their arrest. The agency got a medical team from AIIMS Delhi to examine 25 of the children who suffered severe injuries at the hands of the convicts, leading to building a strong evidence-based case that eventually resulted in capital punishment for the couple.
The court directed the Uttar Pradesh government and the concerned department to ensure rehabilitation, psychological treatment and a secure future for the survivors. It also directed authorities to provide Rs 10 lakh financial assistance to the families of the survivors.
