Delhi court awards life sentence to man for raping minor neighbour, causing pregnancy

A Delhi court has sentenced a 38-year-old man to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life for repeatedly raping a teenage neighbour, which resulted in her pregnancy and childbirth at the age of 15.

Additional Sessions Judge Babita Puniya was hearing arguments on sentence against Ram Shankar alias Ram, convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal intimidation.

In an order dated May 30, the court said, “There are no substantial and compelling circumstances justifying this court to deviate from the sentence of life imprisonment as prescribed by the legislation. Life sentence would serve the interest of justice as well as society.”

The court noted that the aggravating circumstances in the case overwhelmingly outweighed any mitigating factors cited by the convict. The court also awarded Rs 18.5 lakh compensation to the victim and her child.

According to the prosecution, the convict, a former neighbour of the victim’s family, repeatedly raped the girl at her house when her parents were away at work. The assaults led to her pregnancy and she gave birth to a child at the age of 15.

Seeking leniency, the convict argued that he was a first-time offender, illiterate, the sole breadwinner of his family and had two minor children. The court rejected all pleas.

The judge said that the convict exploited the trust reposed in him by the victim’s family. It said he used to isolate the girl by sending her siblings away with money before committing the assaults.

The court said an innocent and helpless child was sexually assaulted by a neighbour who abused a position of trust, and was forced to endure the physical and emotional pain of childbirth before attaining adulthood.

“The nature of the crime and society’s interest in protecting vulnerable children from horrendous experiences warrants a severe sentence. In addition to the victim’s age, I am particularly cognizant of the fact that she became pregnant as a result of these sexual assaults and had to undergo the pain of delivery at the age of 15 years,” the judge said.

Rejecting the defence argument that the convict’s family circumstances warranted a lighter sentence, the court said that granting benefits merely because a convict had a family to support would send a wrong message to society and be unfair to the victim and her newborn.

“The aggravating circumstances in the case far outweigh the mitigating factors. The convict has failed dismally to show the existence of substantial and compelling reasons for taking a lenient view,” it said.

The court sentenced Ram Shankar to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and fined him Rs 50,000. It also awarded him one year’s rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000 under Section 351(2) of the BNS for criminal intimidation, with both sentences to run concurrently.

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The judge also directed payment of Rs 18.5 lakh compensation to the victim, observing that due to the rape, “two victims stand before the law,” the minor mother and her one-month-old child. Of the compensation amount, Rs 12 lakh was earmarked for the victim and Rs 6.5 lakh for the child.