HC upholds convict’s jail term for sexually assaulting minor girl

The Delhi High Court has upheld a seven-year jail term of a man for sexually assaulting a minor girl, stating that the victim’s testimony inspired confidence and the convict was unable to prove that she was tutored.

“When the trial court has found the victim to be reliable and when the victim has stuck by her version throughout trial, mere apprehension of the appellant that the victim has been tutored is not enough to disregard the victim’s evidence,” the court said.

The High Court dismissed the convict’s appeal challenging a trial court’s judgment convicting him for sexually assaulting the seven-year-old girl and sentencing him to jail.

Regarding the sentence, the High Court said that the trial court had rightly appreciated the seriousness of the offence and taken into account that the victim was merely seven years old at the time of the incident while the accused was 37.

“This court finds the quantum of sentence to be proportional with the crime as has been committed by the appellant,” the court said in its November 11 judgment.

The incident took place in December 2016 in Punjabi Bagh. The child was going to her landlord’s room to get a matchbox when the accused dragged her into his room.

He molested the minor and attempted to rape her. But she was saved by her brother, who had come there searching her, the prosecution said.

On being confronted, the man fled the spot and the victim’s family filed a police complaint.

The High Court said it was difficult to fathom as to why a young girl of merely seven years would make up such a story to falsely implicate the convict.

Published - November 16, 2024 01:18 am IST