Pocso case: Delhi court says punishment must correspond to offence
Additional sessions judge Susheel Bala Dagar sentenced Ashraf Rain to life imprisonment under section 6 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act
The punishment awarded to a convict should be commensurate with the gravity of offence in order to serve as an effective deterrent to like-minded people, a Delhi court said while sentencing a man for raping a minor girl in 2019.
Additional sessions judge Susheel Bala Dagar sentenced Ashraf Rain to life imprisonment under section 6 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
The court while passing the sentence on July 11 said, “A clear message that anyone who violates the POCSO Act will be held accountable for their actions must be sent to society at large by imposing a penalty that is proportionate to the act of sexual assault or sexual harassment.”
Rain was also sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment under Indian Penal Code section 363 (kidnapping) and seven years’ rigorous imprisonment under IPC section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), and the court directed that the sentences shall run concurrently. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on him.
The court was hearing a case in which Rain kidnapped a five-year-old girl from her grandparent’s house in October 2019. The accused then slapped the minor, bit her, and punched her, resulting in the girl’s front two teeth to break, and subjected her to penetrative sexual assault.
Following a trial, the trial court convicted Rain under IPC sections 363, 325, 376(2)(j) (being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman) and 376AB (rape on woman under twelve years of age), along with Pocso Act section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault).
Sentencing the convict, the court remarked that “the aspiration of the future of the India lie on the children but it is a matter of great misfortune that children including minor girls and boys are in an extremely vulnerable position. The persons like the convict use various modes for exploiting the children including sexual assault and sexual abuse. Such exploitation by way of sexual abuse of children is a crime against the humanity and the society”.
The court also noted that the victim was subjected to mental and physical trauma, adding that as a result of the incident, she and her entire family members have been subjected to humiliation and insult by the society. The incident has left grave impact on her mental, physical and emotional being for which she needs financial support, the court held, while awarding a compensation of ₹10.5 lakh.
In addition, the court also remarked that a child who has been subjected to sexual abuse needs to be protected so that no mental harassment is meted out to her.
“It is the responsibility of society as a whole to take care of its children and to protect them from their physiological and psychological exploitation at the hands of the sexual abusers. The psychological scars of the sexual abuses during childhood are indelible and they keep haunting the individual forever thereby hindering their proper physical and psychological development,” the court said.