Man gets life term for rape of 9-yr-old

New Delhi: Sentencing a 31-year-old man to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl, a city court stated it was the duty of the courts, police and the masses to ensure that proper legal protection was given to every child.
"In a patriarchal society, as in our country, everyone is quick to blame the victim child involved in any such incident of penetrative sexual assault. A child subjected to sexual abuse needs to be protected even more so that no mental harassment is meted out to the child by anyone," said the court of additional sessions judge Susheel Bala Dagar in its March 5 order.
The court was hearing the arguments on sentencing against the man who was earlier convicted under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of Pocso Act and the penal provisions for rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation.
Additional public prosecutor Yogita Kaushik Dahiya said the convict deserved no leniency for the reprehensible and despicable act as he kidnapped the girl on the pretext of giving her soft drinks and biscuits on July 26, 2021. He thereafter raped the minor by threatening her with a knife, the prosecutor said, adding that he was already convicted of rape by a court in Uttar Pradesh.
The court observed: "A clear message that anyone who violates Pocso Act will be held accountable for their actions must be sent to society at large by imposing a penalty that is proportionate to the act of sexual assault or sexual harassment. In the present case, the convict is found to be having perverse lust for sex."
It added: "It is the responsibility of society as a whole to take care of its children and to protect them from their physiological and psychological exploitation at the hands of the sexual abusers. The psychological scars of the sexual abuses during childhood are indelible and they keep haunting the individual forever, thereby hindering their proper physical and psychological development."
Regarding the compensation scheme for Pocso survivors, it said: "In any beneficial scheme or legislation, there cannot be a concept of maximum. How can there be a price tag on the suffering of the survivor? No amount of compensation can undo the trauma. The least that can be done to help the survivor is to get his/her life back on track." It then awarded her Rs 10.5 lakh compensation, saying it would assist in rehabilitating the survivor.