‘Festival of lights turned into darkness’: Man jailed for 25 yrs in rape of 2-yr-old

The accused, who was convicted on Wednesday under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, had argued for leniency in the sentence, stating several factors, including being intoxicated, belonging to a lower stratum of society and being uneducated.

He was a friend of the victim’s father. He had also argued that leniency may be granted since this was a case of “digital penetration”, which refers to non-consensual penetration of a person’s private parts using fingers or toes. The Judge, however, noted that there was no distinction between digital and penile penetration. It also rejected the other factors that the convict had cited as “mitigating”. The court also awarded Rs 13.5 lakh compensation to the victim and her family.

“The legislature has not made any distinction between digital penetration and penile penetration. Penetration, as per rape law, can be penile/vaginal, penile/oral, penile/anal, object or finger/vaginal and object or finger/anal penetration,” the court said.   The court underlined, “Certain rape cases like Nirbhaya, Kathua gained spotlight among the media, which resulted in hue and cry among the society. After these cases, certain amendments were made in the existing law. However, a court must not be swayed away by the emotions of the society ignoring the principles laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.”

It added, “…this Court will approach the sentencing of the convict on the basis that it is in the interest of justice that crime should be punished and that such punishment should be proportionate to the gravity of the offence since excessive punishment does not serve the interest of justice nor those of society.”

The investigation and trial in this case were both completed within one month of the commission of the offence. The prosecution had examined the parents of the victim and neighbours as witnesses.

The convict had raised an alibi as a defence and had denied going to the house of the complainant. The court, however, noted that he had not produced a “shred of evidence that he had not gone anywhere on the evening of Diwali”.

Judge Puniya also relied on the forensic evidence analysis, which confirmed the presence of the blood on the victim’s clothes.

“In view of the above discussion, the circumstances like the shrieks of the victim, her mother, finding her daughter on the bed with the accused near her legs, blood on her private parts as well as on her lower garments, and the beating inflicted on the accused by the public have been proved by the prosecution,” she said in her conviction order dated November 19.

She also said, “I am of the view that though the suffering of the victim and her family cannot be compensated in monetary terms, it would provide financial solace to her.”

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