Nineteen-year-old Prasanjeet Singh (name changed) today swabbed floors, collected slippers of devotees and served food to the poor at the famous Hanuman Temple here as part of his punishment awarded by a court of law. A juvenile delinquent, Singh was earlier convicted of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl more than four years ago.

The convict was directed to do “community service” by the court for six months, over and above the four and a half years he has already spent in custody in a remand home as an undertrial juvenile prisoner. Interestingly under the Juvenile Justice Act, a convict can be detained for maximum of three years.

The unique punishment was awarded jointly by Principal Magistrate of Patna Manoj Kumar and Juvenile Justice Board member K D Mishra.

“The convict has committed a heinous crime. But he has been in custody for more than four years and hence there is no reason to detain him in custody anymore. Considering the nature of offences and the age of the convict, the Board has ordered the convict to pay Rs 10,000 to the family of the victim as compensation and the Board has further directed the convict to do community service for a period of six months while living with his family,” the order delivered on May 30 said.

“Yes it is a rare kind of directive. This perhaps would be the first instance in the country when a juvenile convict has been directed to serve in a temple after being released from custody.

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