Man gets 15-year jail for minor's rape

New Delhi: A 54-year-old man has been awarded a 15-year jail term by a Delhi court which also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him for sexually assaulting a minor girl.

The accused, Shrikant, after being convicted by the court had moved a plea through his counsel seeking leniency but the court rejected his contention saying the nature of the offence did not merit any leniency for him. The court has also directed the state legal service authority to pay Rs 3 lakh compensation to the child for her welfare and rehabilitation.

“In my considered opinion, the nature of offence committed by the convict does not demand any leniency. Interest of justice would be met, if the convict is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for the period of 15 years and fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 6 (aggravated sexual assault) of the POCSO Act,” the judge said.

The court held the man guilty of the offence while relying on the medical evidence as well as statement of the victim and said it can be safely concluded that the child suffered injury due to the sexual assault on her.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place in June 2014, when Shrikant, who was the child’s neighbour, lured her into his house with the promise of a mango and candy and sexually assaulted her. When the victim’s mother could not find her, she started searching and on hearing the child’s screams, the woman went to the man’s house and found her daughter, it said. It said when the woman confronted the accused, he did not respond and neighbours gathered there and the police was called.

During the trial, the man denied the allegations and claimed that he had given a loan to the girl’s parents and when he demanded it back, they implicated him in the case.

The court, however, said no ulterior motive was attributed to the child for implicating the man in the case and in the absence of any prior animosity, the victim was not expected to level such serious allegations.

“In all her statements, she has implicated the accused with certainty and has attributed a specific role to him. The victim has duly identified the accused as culprit and no valid reasons exist to disbelieve her testimony,” it said.