Rapist gets 10-yr sentence, govt to pay victim Rs 2 lakh

A youth has been sentenced to ten years in jail by a Delhi court for raping a minor girl, allegedly with help from his sister with the victim trying to commit suicide later by consuming acid, permanently damaging her internal organs and becoming disabled for life.

While sentencing the 24-year-old youth, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau also asked the Delhi government to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the 15-year-old victim to ensure "restorative and compensatory justice" to her.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on convict Vicky Sain, a Vikaspuri resident, saying that, if recovered, the same should be given to the victim. It, however, also acquitted Sain's sister owing to paucity of evidence.

The prosecution case dated back to February 2007, when Vicky, got the victim to his house through his sister, who allegedly locked her up with his brother in a room, facilitating him to rape her.

The police told the court as the girl raised alarm, Vicky fled from his house, while the girl went back home, told his mother about the incident and consumed acid, out of shame, inflicting permanent damage to her food pipe, requiring its replacement with an artificial one and leaving herself disabled for life.

"The offence of rape is barbaric in nature where the victim is ravished like an animal for the fulfillment of desire and lust of another man," said ASJ Lau, dismissing Vicky's pleas for mercy and noting that the victim, left disabled for life, needed regular endoscopy at least twice a month for her survival.

The court convicted Vicky, dismissing his contention that the girl had made false allegations against him after having sex with him with her consent.

"It is improbable that a young girl aged 15 years would make false allegations against the accused by inventing a false story and by putting her own reputation and that of her family at stake. That too when she herself suffered immense physical damage after the incident and no girl of self respect and dignity and conscious of her chastity would falsely implicate the accused after causing harm to herself," the ASJ observed.

The court added the girl was a minor at the time of the incident and her consent, if any would otherwise become immaterial.