An Indian couple has been sentenced to death after sexually abusing 33 minors (Image: -)
In a heinous criminal case that has rocked India, a couple in Uttar Pradesh has been sentenced to death following their conviction in a case of sexual abuse of 33 minors over the space of a decade. Some of the victims, all boys under 18, were as young as three years old, and the pair made a fortune from selling photographs and clips of the torture to buyers from 47 countries through the dark web.
For 10 years, Ram Bhawan, 50, ran his child-porn operation from a rented room in Chitrakoot, while working as a junior engineer in the state’s irrigation department. His wife, Durgavati, 47, allegedly assisted him and even threatened the families of the minors into silence or compromise. The pair made 2 lakh (200,000) videos involving dozens of victims, the prosecution said in their trial that concluded this week. A special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, sentenced the couple to death on Friday (February 20).
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With photos and videos, Ram threatened them for many years, selling porn on the dark web (Image: Getty)
« Ram Bhawan used to apply different forms of modus operandi on children, including access to online video games and giving money or gifts to allure them, » a CBI spokesperson said, according to Hindustan Times.
The targets were boys from Banda and Chitrakoot districts and surrounding areas, drawn in by what appeared to be small acts of generosity before being abused and filmed. Ram also promised them “mobile phones, chocolates, and watches”, the prosecution said.
With photos and videos, he then threatened them for many years, according to special public prosecutor Saurabh Singh. The pair remained active in the Banda-Chitrakoot area between 2010 and 2020. The CBI was assisted by Interpol, the global police collective, which found three mobile numbers linked to the sale of porn on the dark web.
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‘Victims are still suffering from psychological trauma caused by the predators,’ a CBI official said (Image: Getty)
« During the investigation of the case, it surfaced that the accused persons had committed various forms of perversity, including aggravated penetrative sexual assaults against 33 male children, some of them as young as three years of age, » a CBI official said. The couple inflicted such physical and psychological torture on the survivors that some required hospitalisation for injuries to their intimate parts, and a few developed squint eyes.
« Victims are still suffering from psychological trauma caused by the predators, » the officer added.
The CBI established that Ram built a systematic digital operation to sell what he filmed. Investigators had been monitoring child sexual abuse material circulating on the internet when they identified content linked to the couple. The duo circulated videos and photographs of the victims to nearly 47 countries via the internet, the prosecution said.
A pen drive recovered during the investigation contained 34 explicit videos and 679 images. The couple had used multiple mobile numbers and email IDs to upload, share and sell material across social media platforms, websites and the dark web.
The judge applied the ‘rarest of rare’ doctrine, which allows for the imposition of the death penalty (Image: Getty)
In its 163-page judgment, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Pradeep Kumar Mishra applied the « rarest of rare » doctrine, which allows for the imposition of the death penalty in exceptionally heinous criminal cases in India.
« 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 court held.
The UP government has been directed to pay ₹10 lakh (£8,177) in compensation to each of the 33 victims. The cash seized from the couple’s home is to be distributed among the victims in equal proportion.
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