Delhi HC upholds 10-year sentence of man found guilty of raping minor neighbour

Courts are under a solemn duty not only to do justice in the individual case, but also to reaffirm society’s commitment that such crimes will be met with stern consequences, the judge underlined

Courts are under a solemn duty to reaffirm society’s commitment that sexual crimes against children will be met with stern consequences, stressed the Delhi high court, while upholding the trial court’s order convicting a man for raping his eight-year-old neighbour.

The conviction stemmed from an FIR lodged by the girl’s parents alleging that the man forcibly confined her in a godown when she went out to get groceries, gagged her and raped her. (Representational image)

A bench of justice Sanjeev Narula delivered the verdict on Tuesday on an appeal by the man challenging the trial court’s September 7, 2024, order, convicting and sentencing him to 10 years in jail for the aggravated sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl in 2018.

The conviction stemmed from an FIR lodged by the girl’s parents alleging that the man forcibly confined her in a godown when she went out to get groceries, gagged her and raped her. The trial court convicted the man under section 376(2) (rape), section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The man in his petition asserted that the verdict suffered from grave infirmities and rested on assumption, rather than reliable proof. He said that though the prosecution had alleged that he abducted the girl in broad daylight and took her to a godown, the IO neither recorded the statement of any independent witnesses nor made efforts to enquire with the shopkeepers or other individuals in the vicinity of the alleged place of occurrence.

The Delhi Police, on the other hand, opposed the petition, asserting that the victim’s statement was of sterling quality and had narrated the incident in a clear, consistent and detailed manner, and it was not under a mandate to corroborate the same, if her testimony was credible.

Affirming the trial court’s order, the court said the case records reflected the ordeal of an eight-year-old child, betrayed and violated by a neighbour she would ordinarily have trusted, and offences of such nature struck at the core of the child’s dignity and security.

Her courage in promptly confiding in her mother, and later narrating the incident before the magistrate as well as the court, justice Narula said, was commendable.

“Offences of this nature strike at the very core of a child’s dignity and security. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 [POCSO Act] was enacted to ensure that children are safeguarded against sexual abuse in all its forms, and to mandate a sensitive but firm judicial response. Courts are under a solemn duty not only to do justice in the individual case, but also to reaffirm society’s commitment that such crimes will be met with stern consequences,” the court maintained.