A local court in Delhi has convicted the accused of raping a minor girl and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. The culprit had committed this crime in the year 2022. The court termed this act as disgusting and said that the punishment should be commensurate with its seriousness.
The case was being heard in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Bala Dagar. The accused was earlier convicted for an offense under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Apart from this, he was also convicted under the provisions of IPC for rape, kidnapping and forcing to marry.
Additional Public Prosecutor Yogita Kaushik Dahiya appeared in the court on behalf of the state. The court said, “In this case, the seriousness of the crime, the age of the victim and the accused, the family situation of the victim, the social and economic factors and circumstances controlling them have been kept in mind.”
The court also sentenced seven years of rigorous imprisonment each for the crimes of kidnapping and forcing a woman to marry. In his decision pronounced on Monday, the judge said that all these sentences will run together. There is a provision for fine in case of non-punishment.
The minor girl was kidnapped on March 5, 2022. After this, the accused had illicit relations with her by promising marriage. The court said that the psychological scars of childhood sexual abuse are indelible and they continue to haunt the person, hampering physical and psychological development.
The court said, “Such people prey on child victims by promising them marriage. In this way, they not only keep the victims away from studies but also adversely affect their life. Therefore, the punishment should be in accordance with the seriousness of the heinous act.” It should be consistent, so that the message can be sent to the society.
Not only this, the court condemned the investigation of Delhi Police and said that IO Bimlesh failed to collect the documents of the first marriage of the convict who sexually assaulted the victim. The police officer did not even check the register of the temple where the marriage of the minor was conducted.
Many mistakes have been made by the police in this case, which show that the conduct of the investigating officer is flawed. Appropriate departmental action is recommended against the investigating officer. However, despite all the flaws, the testimony of the victim girl remained strong, due to which the culprit was punished.