Dimapur POCSO court sentences accused to life imprisonment in 2020 murder of 17-year-old girl after detailed investigation.
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DIMAPUR — The Special Judge of Fast Track Special Court (POCSO), Dimapur, Khesheli Chishi, on Monday sentenced Yilobemo Mozhui to life imprisonment for the murder of a 17-year-old girl whose body was found at St. Clare Higher Secondary School ground in Kacharigaon (Phevima) on October 22, 2020.
Mozhui, who was 19 at the time of the incident, was convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code after the court held that the prosecution had proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt.
The case came to light after the Women Police Station received information from school staff about the recovery of a female body from the school premises. The victim was later identified by her family, following which an FIR was registered.
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Investigation revealed that the victim had left home around 5 pm on October 21 after borrowing INR 100 from her aunt to make photocopies for her brothers’ scholarship applications. Call Detail Records showed that Mozhui was the last person to contact her, and his phone location matched the mobile tower near the place of occurrence.
He was brought in for questioning after scratch marks were noticed on his neck. During interrogation, he confessed to assaulting the victim following an argument. Clothes allegedly worn during the incident were recovered from his residence.
In his statement, Mozhui, then a second-year Bachelor of Theology (BTH) student, said that he had befriended the victim through Facebook in September 2020. They met on October 20 and again on October 21 at Kacharigaon village gate before going to the school ground. He stated that an argument arose after he became jealous over messages from other male friends.
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Believing she had lost consciousness, he left her on nearby stone boulders. When she showed signs of movement, he struck her on the head with a stone.
The accused further admitted to sexually assaulting the victim before fleeing the scene.
He stated that he washed his hands in a nearby marsh, discarded the victim’s mobile phone there, returned home, bathed, washed his clothes, deleted chat messages and attended an online examination the following morning.
Based on the disclosure, police recovered the victim’s mobile phone from the marsh on October 23 and conducted a crime scene re-enactment on October 25, during which another stone allegedly used in the assault was recovered.
The post-mortem examination recorded around 17 grievous external injuries along with severe internal injuries, including skull fractures. The medical opinion stated that death was caused by haemorrhagic shock resulting from multiple blunt force injuries.
After examining the oral, documentary and forensic evidence, the court convicted Mozhui of murder under Section 302 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment.