NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday sentenced a 65-year old man to five years in jail for sexually assaulting a 7-year old girl, saying he was guilty of crippling her childhood and deserved to be taken to task without leniency. Additional Sessions Judge Seema Maini convicted the man under Section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. The court further directed the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to grant a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the rape survivor’s family.
“Sexual assault inhibits every kind of growth of the child, leaving the child either in a nervous wreck or a mental and emotional dwarf. Thus, the convict is guilty of crippling the whole personality of the child, for which he deserves to be taken to task, without leniency,” the court said. According to the prosecution, in 2013, the accused, living in the minor’s neighbourhood, entered her house while she was alone, gagged her and took her to a room. He then sexually assaulted her.
When her aunt came downstairs and saw that the accused had taken the girl inside the room, she raised an alarm and got the door opened. The victim then narrated the ordeal to her aunt and a case was registered with the police. The accused claimed he was falsely implicated and the case went to trial. The court said, “Sexual assault is an act, which not just affects a child physically and emotionally but its psychological effect is too deeply rooted, to be deciphered very soon after the assault.
The psychological assault corrodes the inner being of the child, slowly but steadily, leaving deep embedded scars, which though not visible to the naked eye, get manifested in the child’s future actions, reactions, and emotions. Such a sexually assaulted child develops fear psychosis, withdrawal symptoms as well as shiftiness in behaviour.”
With PTI inputs