With the aim of setting an example to curb the growing cases of sexual abuse against children, a city court has sentenced an 18-year-old youth for 10 years’ jail for raping a five-month-old infant.
Additional sessions judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau termed the crime as a “ghastly and inhuman act” of the convict where the five-year-old infant was subjected to unwanted physical contact by a perverted adult.
The court sent northwest Delhi resident Sonu to jail for 10-years and also imposed on him a fine of `10,000 to be paid to the mother of the infant as compensation.
According to the prosecution, the accused picked up the infant from her maternal grandmother’s home saying he would drop the baby to her mother’s house and after sometime he left the inconsolable infant under the custody of her grandmother.
The family members did not raise an alarm to protect the honour of the girl child but the authorities at the hospital where the infant was taken for treatment informed the police who later registered a case against Sonu.
The court refused Sonu’s appeal for leniency on the ground that he was the only earning member of his family.
ASJ Lau opined that the accused took advantage of a helpless and defenceless child and said, “The ghastly and inhuman act of Sonu cannot be condoned and a substantive, stern sentence is required to be imposed upon him so that it is not only in commensuration with the gravity of the crime but also serves as an example for others.”
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