New Delhi:

A Delhi court has acquitted a man in an alleged case of rape of his minor student in 2019 and observed the complainant was in a consensual relationship with him.

Additional sessions judge Ajay Nagar was hearing the case against a tuition teacher against whom the girl, a class 12 student at that time, got a complaint registered alleging she had been repeatedly raped between 2015 and 2018, besides being threatened and forced to watch porn.

The court, however, underlined material contradictions in the girl’s statements.

In a 45-page judgement passed on December 5, the court considered the evidence and held, “Accused is acquitted of all charges…” Elaborating on the reasons behind its verdict, the court said the prosecution could not prove the complainant was a minor at the time of the alleged offence and therefore the provision for aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act could not be invoked.

It noted the complainant’s testimony of having looked at a “vulgar picture inadvertently” and resiling from her statement that the accused showed her pornographic videos.

“Moreover, the explanation given by the survivor for not disclosing such facts of sexual abuse to her family members or police is not plausible,” the court said, “after the alleged rape, the girl did not raise an alarm and instead, she accompanied the accused, who dropped her home”.

Noting her testimony about being “attracted” towards the accused and writing him “love letters”, the court held the girl was having “a consensual and romantic relationship” with the accused.

It took note of submissions of defence counsels Nivesh Sharma and Ritu Singh about the complainant wanting to marry the accused, but getting a false rape case registered as he married another woman.

“It is clear from the record that the accused got married to some other woman somewhere in the year 2018 but before the registration of FIR in the present case. No plausible explanation has been given for not making the complaint against the accused for more than three years which clearly shows that it was the case of a consensual and romantic relationship between the accused and the survivor,” said the court.

The complainant continued with her tuition classes despite the sexual assault, it underscored.

“It is highly improbable that a girl would go to such a place continuously despite the fact that penetrative sexual assaults are repeatedly being committed upon her forcibly,” the court pointed out.

The verdict further observed the absence of forensic evidence against the accused and held the mere fact that the complainant’s hymen was found ruptured, did not prove the offence.

“There is nothing on record to prove the fact that penetrative sexual assaults were committed upon the survivor by the accused except from the testimony of the survivor but it is not reliable, trustworthy and does not inspire the confidence of the court as there are material contradictions,” the court said.

It said though an accused could be convicted based on the survivor’s sole testimony, it had to be of a “sterling quality”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A Delhi court has sentenced a 25-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping and battering to death a 5-year-old girl in 2017, observing the “brutality” showed his criminal bent of mind.

Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat was hearing a case against the man who was a juvenile at the time of the offence and now tried as an adult offender. The bench found the man guilty of committing the offences of rape and murder.

“In the present case, the aggravating factors against the Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) are that firstly he has committed rape of a child, just of about 5 years, and thereafter mercilessly caused death of the said child by hitting stones on her head,” the court said.

“The causation of such heinous offences itself explains the brutality caused by CCL and his criminal psychology which existed at the time of the offence,” it added in its order dated August 3.

The court said the CCL was an adolescent (over 16 years) when he committed the crime here, and did not have the psychological maturity of an adult and so he could not be compared to an adult offender in the strictest manner.

“The option of treating the CCL as an adult offender only provides that if there is no reformation in the CCL, then he could be directed to undergo a longer or remaining sentence, as in case of major accused persons, but it does not mean that CCL has to be sentenced like an accused in each and every aspect,” the court said.

It said the juvenile had to be sentenced only after considering his reformation and rehabilitation.

“While considering the fact that possibilities of a CCL, to become part of society, have to be kept open, this court is of considered opinion that the CCL should be given minimum sentence provided for the offences committed by him,” the bench said.

Underlining that the minimum sentence for murder was life imprisonment, it said that as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, life imprisonment with the possibility of release could be awarded to him.

“While drawing a balance between the reformation of CCL and heinousness of offence committed by him, the CCL is directed to undergo the minimum sentence provided for offences committed by him, which is imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs 10,000 for the offence under IPC section 302 (murder),” the court said.

The bench also sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for the offence of rape.

The court observed that when a juvenile facing trial as an adult offender was found to have committed any offence, then at the time of passing the verdict on the quantum of sentence, it had to be considered whether the CLL was reformed.

It, however, said that the juvenile could not be released as he needed to be further reformed.

The bench noted that the convict was still involved in crimes such as unlawful sale, possession, and manufacture of intoxicants when he was a major and out of institutional care.

The man was also not remorseful about his misdeeds, which shows that there is no reformation in him and therefore if he is set free without any reformation, he could further get himself involved in other crimes, the court said.

It directed the prison authorities to provide him with education and employment.

“The District Child Protection Unit is directed to assess the reformation of CCL yearly and shall file its follow-up report before this court every year,” the court said.

It also declared Rs 17 lakh as compensation to the parents of the victim girl.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A 5-year-old girl was raped and murdered by a man in Delhi’s Bawana area. The incident happened on March 24. After the murder, the man hid the girl’s body in a factory, said police. 

The man lured the girl into going with him, said police. He was captured taking the girl away in CCTV footage. After raping the girl, the accused murdered her and hid her body in a factory. 

Further investigation in the matter is underway, said police. 
 

New Delhi:

A 35-year-old tarot card reader was arrested in Himachal Pradesh for allegedly raping a woman in Delhi last year, police said on Tuesday.

They said the woman informed police on March 1 that Sidhant Joshi allegedly raped her on the false promise of marriage after she approached him to resolve a grievance with her friend.

She also claimed that Joshi clicked private photos and videos of her to threaten her, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Rohit Meena said.

The officer said an FIR was registered and a team was formed to nab the accused.

“Based on surveillance of the mobile phone of the accused, the team started chasing him. Our team chased him in Uttar Pradesh from Uttarakhand to Punjab and he was finally apprehended from Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh,” the DCP said.

“The accused confessed his crime and disclosed that he exploited the victim multiple times. An FIR under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC has been registered and further investigation is under progress,” he added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)