E-Paper
Rapist sent to 20 years in jail on 10-year-old victim’s testimony in Chandigarh
Rs 50,000 fine also imposed on the convict
The testimony of a 10-year-old girl in court, where she also identified her tormentor, proved instrumental as the court on Saturday sentenced the 19-year-old man to 10 years in jail for raping the minor girl.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict, Sanjeev.
Sanjeev was booked on January 23 under Sections 376-AB (rape on woman under 12 years of age) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
VICTIM NARRATES ORDEAL IN COURT
During the course of the trial, the victim deposed before the court that her parents and two sisters had gone to their native village. While her brother was playing outside, she was sleeping in their house on January 18.
When she got up, Sanjeev was gagging her and forcibly took her to his house in their neighbourhood. There he raped her, and threatened not to disclose this to anyone, otherwise he would kill her.
“I was very scared. But I disclosed the entire incident to my sister, who informed my mother. Sanjeev later called my father and told him that he incidentally slipped on me,” the girl told the court.
She added, “Thereafter, I developed constant pain in the stomach. So, I, along with my parents, approached the police. The police enquired from me and recorded my statement. I was medically examined (sic).”
Her mother told the court that though the child was raped on January 18, they reported the matter to the police on January 23, as they were in talks with Sanjeev’s father to produce him before them. But he kept dilly-dallying the matter.
