Man sent to 10 years in jail for raping 6-year-old girl in 2013 (representational image)
A Delhi court has sentenced a 28-year-old man to 10 years in jail for kidnapping and raping a six-year-old girl in 2013, observing that the "cruel" society would not let her forget the incident and she would never be able to erase from her psyche the memories of the sexual assault.
Special Judge Seema Maini convicted the man under Section 6 (committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, and section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court also imposed Rs 15,000 fine on him.
It said, "In this happy world of the child victim in the instant case, convict has barged in like a giant Ogre. He broke her trust, duped her with a false promise of samosa and thereafter mangled her body. The victim child, oblivious of the terms 'sex, sexuality, sexual assault, and the sexual act', was brutally exposed to the same at such a tender age."
The child was left bewildered, though not knowing the full impact of the penetrative sexual assault, knew this much that it caused her suffering and she started weeping, the court said.
It, however, added, "Nevertheless, keeping in view that the penetrative sexual assault was not a penile one but an oral one and also that this is the first offence of the convict, who is also a young man of 28 years, the minimum sentence prescribed for the said offence under section 6 of the POCSO Act shall suffice..."
According to the prosecution, the man, who lived in the neighbourhood of the child, came to her house in the evening on January 17, 2013 and asked her mother if her husband was at home.
The girl's mother said he was not, after which, without informing her, he took her daughter with him on the pretext of buying him something to eat.
When the victim did not come back home for a considerable period of time, her mother started searching her and saw her coming from the front street crying. On asking, she told her mother that the accused had taken her to a room situated on a roof near the water tank and raped her.
The girl's mother called the police and he was arrested.
During the trial, the man claimed innocence and that he was falsely implicated in the case.
The court said the child was likely to lose her faith, trust and carefree attitude for all times to come.
"She will be haunted midst the unpleasant memories for her life to come and the cruel society, in which she lives, will not let her forget it. This penetrative sexual assault is one memory which she will not be able to erase and the same is likely to become a never willing move in her entire psyche," the judge said.
