Guwahati: In a landmark judgment, the Kokrajhar special court in Assam on August 1 sentenced a private residential school principal to life imprisonment for raping five teenage girls students. The special court judge delivered the verdict after hearing all witnesses and examining the evidence. The special court convicted principal David Bright Basumatary for raping five of his minor students and sexually harassing them. It should be mentioned that David Bright was the principal of a missionary residential school in the Ramdeo area under the Gossaigaon subdivision in the Kokrajhar district. He was staying in the principal quarter near the girl’s hostel of the school. The report said he called many minor girl students to his quarter and sexually harassed them.
The criminal David even raped five minor students inside his quarter in 2022. After the heinous crime of the principal was reported to the parents by the students, a case was filed at Sapkota police station in 2022. Two special cases, numbered 15/22 and 20/22, concerning the rape of the five students were registered. After a thorough investigation, Kokrajhar police filed the chargesheet against David Bright. The special court examined 16 witnesses during the yearlong hearing of the case. And on August 1, special Court Judge J Koch found him guilty of the heinous crime and sentenced David to life imprisonment.
The severity of the crime and its impact on the lives of the victims led to the stern punishment of life imprisonment, ensuring that the school principal faced the consequences of his heinous crime.
This judgement serves as a crucial step in upholding the rights and safety of students, and it sends a clear signal that such offences will not be tolerated in educational institutions. David Bright was found guilty under the POCSO act by the special court and sentenced to life imprisonment along with a fine of 20000 Rupees. The victims’ parents expressed satisfaction after the pronouncement of the final verdict.
