Man sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping 60-year-old mentally unstable woman in ’18

A fast track special court in Chandigarh on Saturday sentenced a 27-year-old man to 20 years in jail for raping a 60-year-old mentally challenged woman in 2018. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Swati Sehgal, sentenced the convict, Sandeep Singh Rana, under Sections 376 (2) (rape) and 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) of the IPC. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 35,000 on the convict.

As per the prosecution, on May 20, 2018, police received information about some quarrel in Kishangarh village, Chandigarh, following which the cops reached the spot. One person there told police that a day before (on May 19, 2018), he went to meet his friend at the village around 3 pm where the door of his friend’s house was found to be closed from inside. He repeatedly knocked the door, but there was no response. When he peeped through the window, he noticed an intellectually challenged woman (victim in this case) lying naked in the room and the accused was raping her. He made a video of the said incident from his mobile phone. After some time, the accused opened the door and came out, and after pushing him aside escaped from the place.

An FIR was registered at IT Park police station under sections of rape and trespassing.

During the trial, the defence counsel argued that the accused had been falsely implicated in the case. The court, after hearing the arguments and perusing the video evidence, held the accused guilty. While pronouncing the sentence, the court said that adequate sentencing is better statutory armour against gender outrage than the long clauses of complex sections with all the protections writ into them. The need for every person to know the legal ramification of his vicious act is indispensable.

“The accused instead of extending hand of compassion and respect towards the mentally challenged and elderly prosecutrix, chose to treat her as a mode of gratification of his lust. The accused by his act has not only broken the law of land but has also attacked the sanctity and ‘sanskars’ of our enriched traditional society. Such deplorable act of the accused is liable to be inexorably and mercilessly punished in the severest term,” said the judge.