NEW DELHI: A man was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life for raping a minor by a Delhi court, citing that the accused did not deserve any leniency and he “in a calculated manner” established physical relations and abandoned her on finding she was pregnant.
Additional sessions judge Anu Aggarwal said the child has been stamped and tagged as an illegitimate child for the rest of her life and would be treated as such by society throughout her life. “The child has also been forced to bear the trauma that she was born due to rape committed on her mother,” the judge wrote in the order on December 16.
Additional public prosecutor Arun KV urged for the harshest punishment, saying that between 2016 and 2018, the convict, an auto driver, manipulated the 15-year-old girl into a relationship on the pretext of marriage and abandoned her when she had the child.
The court was hearing the arguments on sentencing against the 27-year-old man convicted under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and provisions of the IPC. The survivor was stated to be an “easy prey” with no family support, and being a minor, she was unaware of the perpetrator’s intentions.
“The convict, in a very calculated manner, induced the minor into entering into sexual relations with him… The minor was forced to become a mother at the tender age of 17 years… The immense mental trauma that the victim and the child have to bear is unimaginable,” the court said.
The convict did not only exploit the minor survivor but also destroyed her future, leaving her and the child stigmatised by society, it said.
The court sentenced the convict to rigorous imprisonment for life, meaning imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life, along with a Rs 2 lakh fine, which would be paid to the survivor.
The court further granted a Rs 16.50 lakh “maximum compensation” to the survivor, since she would have to look after her child.
Compensation to the survivor
The court has also imposed a fine of `2 lakh, which would be paid to the survivor. The court further granted a `16.50 lakh “maximum compensation” to the survivor, since she would have to look after her child.