Rape: Court Gives 20-Yr RI To Man Who Raped 2 Minors In 2017 | DelhiNews

New Delhi: And Delhi court recently awarded 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment to a child in conflict with the law (CCL) for raping two minor girls — a four-and-a-half-year-old and a seven-year-old — in 2017.
The court observed that rape is an offense against the body, and each victim has an individual right to protect, safeguard and maintain the dignity of her body.
The Juvenile Justice Board had said that the boy, then just over 16 years old, should be tried as an adult and referred the case to a POCSO court. The court of additional sessions judge (POCSO) Amit Sahrawat, in its order on Sept 4, awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for each rape.
“The breach of the fundamental rights of one person cannot be compensated by providing punishment for the breach of another person’s fundamental rights. Hence, the offense of rape with each victim shall be counted as an individual offense, and therefore CCL ‘S@S’ is required to be dealt with for two offenses of rape, i.e., firstly with victim ‘A’ and secondly with victim ‘S’,” said the court. The court used S@S as an alias for the convict.
The court was hearing the case against the convict, who is now about 24 years old. The court said in the present case, the aggravating factors are that he has committed rape of two minors at the same time.
The court had convicted him in April this year for offenses of rape and under Sections of the POCSO Act.
The committal of rape with such little children itself explains the psychology of the child at the time of the offense, the court said.
Special public prosecutor Vineet Dahiya submitted before the court that the convict had committed a heinous offense and he should be punished with maximum sentence.
Advocate Vagisha Kochar, amicus curiae for the child, submitted that at the time of the offense, he was a victim of bad society and he was aged about 16 years. She further submitted that at such a young age, he was not mature enough to resist the effects of bad society.
The court also awarded Rs 10.5 lakh each to the victims. On the basis of the victim impact report and other facts on record, the court noted that both the victims have suffered a lot due to the crime, and financially their families are not in a position to bear their suffering.
The court, taking note of the fact that the child was apprehended on Feb 21, 2017, and was released on April 13, 2020, said that when he was released from institutional care, he committed three more offenses — two thefts and a robbery.
“This record shows that CCL has misused his liberty and there has been no reformation in him. Despite efforts made in institutional care, he has not detached himself from bad society,” the court said. Hence, he cannot be released, the bench added.
The court directed the jail superintendent to provide employment to him during his sentence in jail as per his skills in art, along with education in the jail during his sentence. The court also directed the district child protection unit to assess its reformation yearly and file its follow-up report before the court every year.