HYDERABAD: A 16-year-old rape survivor, unable to fully articulate her ordeal in words, demonstrated the assault on a doll during the investigation — a step that became central to the conviction of a 30-year-old man by the I Additional District and Sessions Court, Vikarabad.
The court sentenced Athwelli Narender alias Naresh alias Nari to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly sexually assaulting the mentally vulnerable teenager. It also directed the state government to pay `5 lakh as compensation.
The survivor’s father and mother are deceased and she stays with her grandmother, who is blind and deaf.
In her testimony, the survivor said that her ordeal began late one evening when she and her grandmother were sleeping in their house. As there was no latch, they used a brick to stop the door. Naresh forced himself into her house and dragged her to another room where he sexually assaulted her, even as her grandmother slept in another room. Initially, the survivor tried to conceal the sexual assault by saying injuries were caused by a “stick injury” as she had been threatened with death by the accused.
A neighbour who used to check in on the hapless family noticed bites and scratches on the survivor’s cheeks and other parts of the body. The neighbour immediately informed three Anganwadi workers. Urged by the Anganwadi workers, the survivor finally lodged a complaint with the Vikarabad police.
The police sent her to Bharosa centre where SI K Susmitha was in charge. The SI recorded the survivor’s statement in a child-friendly environment. A doll was made available to assist the survivor, who had difficulty expressing the events verbally.
Initially, the SI posed preliminary questions to put the survivor at ease, and then she gradually opened up and narrated the incidents.
“The survivor using phrases like ‘karab chesindu’ (ruined her life) rather than rape does not diminish the gravity of the acts described. The essence of the statement, particularly as demonstrated on the doll, is one of forcible sexual contact, which clearly falls within the ambit of penetrative sexual assault,” the judgment said.
The court said that the evidence clearly establishes that the accused, taking advantage of the survivor’s age and the helpless circumstances arising from her grandmother’s disability, repeatedly subjected her to penetrative sexual assault.
The court found Naresh guilty and sentenced him to 20 years in jail.