The Delhi High Court has upheld life imprisonment awarded to a man for sodomising a 4-year-old child, noting that his “perverse act” not only caused physical injuries to the victim but also left emotional scars.
A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Vinod Goel remarked that the 25-year-old convict is married and has a child. “But that did not deter him from lusting for the victim. The fact that the appellant was himself a father of a child and yet he had no compunction in committing such a heinous crime, gives strength to our resolve to uphold the judgment,” the Bench said.
The convict lured the boy, his neighbour, to his room by offering him chicken and rice.
“This reprehensible animality demonstrated by the appellant [man] would have caused the victim such trauma that he will be wary of reposing trust in an adult or live a joyous and carefree life in his formative years,” the Bench said.
Enhance compensation
The court also remarked that the compensation amount of ₹4 lakh awarded to the child by the trial court needs to be enhanced.
The incident took place in January 2016, when the child’s mother was on the terrace. When the child came back from the man’s room, the mother saw him bleeding.
The boy then informed her about the man’s acts after which she raised an alarm. The neighbours caught the convict and the matter was reported to the police.