Ex-hospital employee gets five-year jail term for raping differently-abled
CHENNAI: A Delhi court has sentenced a 53-year-old former staff member of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital to five years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a differently-abled woman in October 2021.
The convict was found guilty under section 376-C of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with sexual intercourse by a person in authority.
The case, presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Aanchal, revealed that the victim had visited the hospital to obtain her disability certificate. During an X-ray examination, the accused violated her by inserting his fingers into her private parts, causing injury, including partial rupture of her hymen. In the verdict, Judge Aanchal emphasised the importance of delivering justice not only to the victim but also to society at large.
The court highlighted that there is no fixed formula for sentencing, but the goal is to ensure that such heinous crimes do not go unpunished.
“It has not been the case that the convict was in a state of mental stress or compulsion. The offence was a breach of the victim’s privacy, especially given her physical challenges,” the court noted.
While the convict’s age and time spent in custody during the trial were considered as mitigating factors, the court ultimately sentenced the former hospital staffer to five years of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 5,000.
Also in court
‘NCDRC appeals not confined to Delhi’
The Delhi HC has clarified that its jurisdiction does not automatically extend to challenges against decisions of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) simply because the NCDRC is based in Delhi. Justice Manoj Jain emphasised that challenges to NCDRC rulings must be filed in the HC of the region where the original cause of action arose, rather than being restricted to Delhi. The verdict relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s precedent in a case, which similarly held that the location of an institution alone does not establish jurisdiction for the HC. It was hearing petitions on whether the HC should entertain challenges to NCDRC rulings .
Court convicts man in 2016 murder case
A court here has convicted a man in a 2016 murder case, saying that the prosecution’s case was not weakened by not establishing the motive of the crime as the complete chain of circumstances proved the guilt of the accused. The court was hearing the case against Bhan Singh alias Bhanu, who was accused of murdering Dedu alias Kabadi by hitting him with a spade on October 29, 2016. According to the prosecution, the deceased was last seen with the accused, he fled from the scene of the crime and the weapon of the offence -- a spade -- with
the deceased’s blood on it, was recovered. It, however, said that the prosecution could not establish the motive for the crime.