Juvenile's conviction for rape upheld

GURUGRAM: A Rewari sessions court upheld a May 2017 order by the juvenile justice board (JJB), sentencing a child in conflict with law (CCL) to three years at an observation home. The juvenile had been convicted for raping his neighbour, a mentally challenged 20-year-old girl in Mundra village of Rewari, while she had gone out to relieve herself in February 2016.

The order was challenged by the juvenile in the sessions court, on the grounds that it had been passed without recording the survivor's statement. Additional session judge major (retired) Phalit Sharma, on February 21, upheld the JJB order, observing that in case the survivor is mentally challenged, her statement is not necessary for conviction.

In his statement before court, the survivor's father, who is the complainant, said at about 2pm on February 6, 2016, the girl had gone to the mustard field near their house to relieve herself. Minutes later, when he heard her cry out from the fields, he went there and witnessed the juvenile - his neighbour's son - raping his daughter.

When he called upon the juvenile's family, the juvenile's elder brother threatened to kill the survivor if the matter was reported to police.

The survivor's family then approached police. An FIR was registered , and the survivor's medico-legal examination carried out. Following procedure, the juvenile was taken into protective custody.

During the JJB's hearings, the survivor's mother said her daughter can't speak because of her mental disability. The juvenile's counsel argued that the JJB had passed an order solely on the basis of statements by the complainant. The court observed that the court was not inclined to take a lenient view in this case, as the boy who had raped the mentally challenged girl was over 15 years of age at the time.