The Delhi High Court has reduced the sentence of a man convicted of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl from 30 years to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, citing his satisfactory conduct in jail since 2015.
Justice Amit Sharma, delivering the judgment on July 11, acknowledged that the offence was “extremely grave” but noted that the convict had been working as a safai sahayak (sanitation assistant) in jail and maintained a positive conduct record over the past nine years.
“There is no doubt that the offence committed by the present appellant is extremely grave,” the court observed. However, it added that considering his continued incarceration since April 6, 2015, and his behaviour during custody, a modification of the sentence was warranted.
The man had appealed the trial court’s 2013 verdict, which sentenced him to 30 years under multiple charges, including Section 376(2)(i) and (n) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), relating to rape of a minor and repeated rape, and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
According to the prosecution, the survivor and her mother approached the police on April 4, 2015, alleging that their neighbour had repeatedly raped the minor girl. She stated that in December 2014, when alone at home, the man had lured her with food, showed her obscene content on his phone, and assaulted her sexually. He later threatened her with violence to ensure her silence.
The abuse came to light when the minor complained of a stomach ache and was taken to a doctor. Medical examination revealed that she was pregnant. A medical termination of pregnancy was carried out, and DNA samples were collected and sent for forensic analysis.
While the High Court upheld his conviction under most charges, including Sections 376(2)(i), 376(2)(n), 450 (house trespass), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, as well as Sections 3 and 4 of the POCSO Act, it acquitted him under the charge of sexual harassment. The convict had argued that inconsistencies in the minor’s testimony made it unreliable, a claim the court rejected while affirming the credibility of her account.
With the modified sentence, the convict will now serve 20 years in prison.
