Delhi high court convicts man over a decade after he raped an 11-year-old
In April 2010, the girl, while returning from school, had gone to a public toilet when the man followed her and forced himself on her. The matter was reported to the police seven days after the incident. The man was apprehended a few days later.
The Delhi high court on Friday convicted a man accused of raping an 11-year-old girl in 2010---more than a decade after he was exonerated by a trial court---and handed him 10 years rigorous imprisonment for the crime.
In April 2010, the girl, while returning from school, had gone to a public toilet when the man followed her and forced himself on her. The matter was reported to the police seven days after the incident. The man was apprehended a few days later.
In 2011, the trial court acquitted the man, giving him the benefit of doubt. Challenging this judgment, the state moved the high court.
In its ruling, a bench of justices Mukta Gupta and Mini Pushkarna noted that the trial court committed a grave error in holding the girl as a tutored witness by stating that during her cross examination, the girl said she had stated whatever her aunt and police told her to.
“This finding is totally fallacious since the girl in answer to the court question had clearly stated that her deposition was made against the accused because the said incident had taken place and she had not deposed against the accused because her aunt and police had asked her to state so,” the bench noted in its 20-page judgment.
According to the status report filed by the prosecution in November 2013, the man had not been seen in the area of his residence for a while and therefore, could not be traced.
Since non-bailable warrants against the man were not executed, the high court in March 2014 directed initiation of proceedings to declare him a proclaimed offender.
In its judgment, the high court justified the delay in the registration of the FIR stating that the girl, who had lost her mother at a very young age and whose father was also missing, was staying with her aunt who was looking after 10 children, 6 of her own and 4 of her brother’s, including the girl. “It may not be lost sight of the fact that PW8 aunt of the victim is a labourer, not an educated woman.”