'Unfortunately In India A Girl Child Is In A Very Vulnerable Position' : Kerala Court Finds Man Guilty Of Raping 9 Yr Old Girl

Last week, a Special POCSO Court in Kerala convicted a 53-year-old man for repeatedly raping a 9-year-old girl and found him guilty under Sections 376(f)(i) (rape on minor) IPC and Sections 5(l) (m) (p) r/w 6 and 9(l) (m) (p) r/w 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. 

While convicting the man, Special Judge R.Jayakrishnan opined that the accused deserved no leniency in the sentence since he committed the atrocities on an innocent girl young enough to be his granddaughter. 

"Children are precious human resources of our country. They are the country's future. The hope of tomorrow rests on them. But unfortunately, in our country, a girl child is in a very vulnerable position. A crime against a child in such a manner is a crime against humanity and the society."

The accused who is an autorickshaw driver raped a minor school going girl aged 9 years while travelling in his Autorickshaw.

The series of unfortunate incidents of sexual assault began in November 2012 and went on till March 2013. The accused was a friend of the girl's father and was entrusted with taking her to school and back home.

What started out as molestation soon escalated to merciless acts of sexual assault and abuse. At one point, he even brought another man to the spot who attempted to penetrate her. The atrocities continued to spiral out of control; she was even taken to a hotel room, drugged and abused. 

The accused asked her not to disclose the incidents to anyone, and she maintained silence for so long till the school authorities found out. The matter came to light after the girl complained of stomachache and her class teacher enquired about the same.  

The case was thereby informed to the police and a case was registered against the accused.  

Upon investigation, it was confirmed that the accused had sexually abused the girl on several occasions in the given period to satisfy his lust in his autorickshaw and in a hotel room. 

Special Public Prosecutor Vijay Mohan R.S appeared for the survivor girl who is now 18 years old. 

The Court verified that at the time of the offence, the survivor was a minor. The medical reports also substantiated the alleged history of sexual abuse. The witness statements were well-collaborated as well. No serious contradictions or omissions were brought out at the time of the survivor's cross-examination.

The irresistible conclusion in such circumstances was that the accused is the perpetrator of the crime.

"Considering the totality of the evidence and the circumstances which I narrated above, I hold that the accused had committed rape, aggravated penetrative sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault on PW7, minor victim girl."

Regarding the question of sentence to be imposed on the accused, the Court observed that it has a duty to consider and credit the trauma faced by the minor victim girl and the family members and the guidelines of the Supreme Court. 

Accordingly, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs.50,000/- with a default sentence of one-year rigorous imprisonment under Sec.5(l)(m)(p) r/w 6 of the POCSO Act and rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and fine of Rs.25,000/- with default sentence for 6 months rigorous imprisonment 9(l)(m)(p) r/w 10 of the POCSO Act will meet the ends of justice. 

It was also held that the victim was entitled to get compensation under the Victim Compensation Scheme. 

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