KIDNAPPING AND SEXUAL ABUSE: Paedophile Lallchand Boodhoo to serve jail term, Appeal Court rules

Lallchand Boodhoo, a fruit seller, will have to undergo the two prison sentences of five years and eight years for the offences of kidnapping and sexual abuse of two girls. 

His appeal at the Supreme Court was rejected in a judgement delivered last week by Acting Senior Puisne Judge, Saheeda Peeroo, and Justice Nirmala Devat. They concluded that there is no justification to disturb the prior ruling of the Intermediate Court which found the appellant guilty under the four counts of information. In the present case the appellant was charged before the Criminal Division of the Intermediate Court under counts 1 and 2 for the offence of abducting a child in breach of section 13 C (1) (a) of the Child Protection Act and under counts 3 and 4 for causing a child to be sexually abused by him in breach of sections 14 (1) (a), (2) (a) and 18 (5) (b) of the Child Protection Act. Lallchand Boodhoo pleaded not guilty to all the four counts and was assisted by Counsel.

After hearing evidence, the presiding Magistrate of the Intermediate Court found him guilty as charged and sentenced him to undergo five years’ penal servitude under each of Counts 1 and 2. For offences 3 and 4 held against him, he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

The gist of the case is that on 21 March 2013, at 6:09 pm, the police was informed that two children had been kidnapped by a man. The two children were found in a sugarcane track and were by their mother’s side crying. A motorcycle laid on the ground nearby with a bag still attached to it. In it, the police found an identification document belonging to Lallchand Boodhoo. The latter was arrested on the same night after he was found hiding in a sugarcane field at Clemencia.

The paedophile, who lives in St Pierre, said he came across the two girls while on his way to pick guavas in Bambous Vireux. They were both walking on the road and he already had made up his mind to sexually abuse them. Pretending that their father had sent him to fetch them, Lallchand Boodhoo invited both girls to ride his bike. He drove them to a sugarcane field where he stopped his motorcycle and abused the eldest girl. He was interrupted by two passers-by.

The paedophile panicked and tried to escape on his bike. One of the strangers grabbed the motorcycle from the rear causing Lallchand Boodhoo to fall. He managed to escape. After his arrest, he was brought to Flacq police station for his interrogation.

The paedophile appealed against his conviction and filed 10 grounds of appeal which include: the Magistrate’s decision to rely on his confession to prove his guilt, the absence of forensic evidence, and the Court’s finding on the report of Dr. Gungadin, the Police Medical Officer.