New Delhi, Aug 8: A rickshaw puller, who turned violent and chewed off the ear of a cyclist who had scraped past his tricycle, has been sentenced to three years in jail with the court terming the crime as “barbaric” and “unacceptable to the civilised society”.
“I have no hesitation in holding that the act of convict of biting or chewing the ear of the complainant falls in the category of barbarism which can not be permitted or accepted in a civilised society at any cost,” Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma said while sentencing Uttar Pradesh native Balbir Singh to three years in prison.
While disapproving the apparent road rage syndrome, afflicting the drivers of even slow-moving vehicles, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him, stipulating that, if recovered, the penalty should go to victim Sant Ram. According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on July 17, 2002, when Johripur resident Sant Ram was coming back home on his bicycle from the market after purchasing a cotton bale.
While negotiating the dense traffic near Shahdara flyover, Sant Ram's cycle scraped past Singh's rickshaw. Following the innocuous incident, Singh flew into a rage, got hold of Sant Ram and began abusing and beating him. Not content with giving vent to his anger, Singh clasped Sant Ram's head and dug his teeth into his ear, chewing three fourth of it off the temple.
The passersby had to intervene to save a profusely bleeding Sant Ram, who was rushed to a nearby hospital. Later, a case was registered at Shahdara police station and Singh was arrested, but later released on bail.
Refusing to show leniency to the convict, the judge said the punishment must be appropriate in such cases to deter people from indulging in such barbaric acts.
“Though it is true that our criminal administrative system is also reformative besides being punitive in nature, but in the given set of facts and circumstances, I am of the considered opinion that the accused (Singh) must be awarded suitable punishment so as to send a message of deterrence to the public at large to refrain from indulging into such acts,” ACMM Sharma said.
Holding Singh guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Sant Ram by biting his ear, the judge said, “I am of the considered opinion that testimony of Sant Ram, where he had not only described the incident in detail but had also correctly identified Singh, alone is sufficient enough to bring home the guilt of the accused (Singh) beyond any reasonable doubt.” PTI
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