Delhi High Court reduces convict's jail term from 30 to 20 years in rape case
Justice Amit Sharma, in an order dated July 11, noted that the man had been in custody since April 6, 2015, and had served as a safai sahayak (cleaning assistant) while maintaining an overall satisfactory jail record.
'The trial court while sentencing the present appellant for a period of 30 years under Sections 376(2)(i) and (n) of the IPC has recorded that the offence committed by the appellant was heinous in nature and, therefore, the sentence awarded was justified.
There is no doubt that the offence committed by the present appellant is extremely grave,' the Court observed, while allowing partial modification of the sentence. The man had approached the High Court challenging the 2013 judgment of the trial court that found him guilty of repeatedly raping a minor girl, who lived in his neighbourhood.
The incident came to light when the girl, along with her mother, approached police on April 4, 2015.
The girl told police that in December 2014, when no one else was home, the accused came to her house, offered her food, showed her obscene images on his phone and sexually assaulted her. She also alleged that he slapped and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed the abuse.
Later, when the minor experienced stomach pain, her mother took her to a doctor. Medical examination revealed she was pregnant. Doctors advised a medical termination of pregnancy. DNA samples were collected and sent to the forensic science laboratory.
Following investigation, the man was convicted under Sections 376(2)(i) and 376(2)(n) (repeated rape of a minor), Section 450 (house trespass), and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. He was also held guilty under Sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, relating to penetrative sexual assault. However, he was acquitted of the charge of sexual harassment.
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