New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has upheld seven years jail term of a man for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl, saying the victim’s testimony inspired confidence and the convict has been unable to show that she was tutored.
The high court said while the court has to be sensitive in considering the statement of a child victim in sexual offence cases, the reality of the impressionable nature of children and the possibility of them being tutored cannot be ignored.
“At the same time, 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 said factor has to be established by either showing motive for false implication or through the evidence of the witness herself,” Justice Amit Mahajan said in a recent verdict.
The high court dismissed a man’s appeal challenging a trial court’s judgement convicting him for sexually assaulting a minor girl and sentencing him to seven-year imprisonment.
Regarding the sentence, the high court said the trial court has 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 a grown man of 37 years of age.
“This court finds the quantum of sentence to be proportional with the crime as has been committed by the appellant,” it said.
The incident took place in December 2016 when the child was going to her landlord’s room to get a matchbox and the accused dragged her into his room.
He molested her and also attempted to rape the minor, who was saved by her brother who came there searching her, the prosecution said.
On being confronted, the man fled the spot and a complaint was filed with the police by the girl’s family.
The man contended that he was falsely implicated in the case on account of previous enmity with the victim’s family.
The high court, however, said it was difficult to fathom as to why a young girl of merely seven years of age would make up such a story to falsely implicate the appellant.
“There can be no plausible explanation for a grown man to lay naked over a minor girl after disrobing her of her underwear and jeans,” it said, adding that minor discrepancies regarding the presence of door and curtain in the accused’s room were not such that cast a doubt over the prosecution’s case.
“The testimony of the witness inspires confidence and the appellant has been unable to show that the version of the victim is tutored. In such circumstances, the foundational facts stand proved by the prosecution through the evidence of the victim and her brother and the appellant has not been able to create any doubt….,” the high court said. PTI SKV AS AS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.