Man gets 10 years of RI for sexually assaulting niece

Observing that a 10-year-old girl would not tell a lie, a Delhi court has sentenced a man to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault upon her.

Additional Sessions Judge Ruby Alka Gupta also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict who was found guilty of raping his bhanji (niece) when she was alone in the house.

"It is a fact of common knowledge that a child of 10 years old in normal circumstances will not tell a lie. However, a child can tell a lie if he/she is tutored. But in this case, no fact with regard to the tutoring has come on record precisely for the reasons that her parents have turned hostile completely," the judge said in its order.

The incident happened on January 25, 2013 when the accused, the uncle of the victim, was alone in the house.

He offered the victim food following which he removed her clothes and assaulted her.

However, the accused denied all the allegations levelled against him and contended that he was being falsely implicated.

Appearing for the convict, his counsel contended that he had four school going children and an old mother. His father had expired due to the trauma of the incident.

However, the judge, in the order, held that since the victim was a minor, and also was his relative who lived in the same house, sentenced the accused to rigorous imprisonment.

This was even after the father and the paternal aunt of the victim turned hostile.

The court convicted the accused under Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and 376 (2) (f) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) (commits rape on a woman when she is under twelve years of age).