Meghalaya HC turns down petition against district court order on raping minor

The Meghalaya High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a man challenging a district court's order sentencing him to 10-years imprisonment for raping a minor girl. A division bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice M Y Mir upheld the judgement passed by the Court of the District and Session Judge in 2016 which convicted Small Phawa for raping the girl in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district and sentenced him to 10-years rigorous.

The bench said the trial court has rightly convicted Phawa on proper appreciation of evidence and sentenced him. "Appeal is found to be devoid of merit ..." the bench said in an order posted on Tuesday. The appeal made by Phawa was accordingly dismissed, it said.

(With inputs from agencies.)