HC lessens sentence of 'poor' charged with rape bid

Being poor and so not able to appoint an advocate to defend him proved lucky for a convict sentenced on charges of attempting to rape a minor girl in 2007.

The Bombay high court set aside the five-year jail term handed to Raswaroop Prajapati in 2009 to the period undergone by him till now.

Single judge bench of Justice AV Nirgude in its four-page judgment said: “Nonetheless, the experience for the victim was quite traumatic and, in my view, the appellant has suffered quite substantially. The appellant deserves leniency only to the extent of reducing the substantial sentence to the extent of period which he, so far, has not undergone.”

Prajapati has been in jail for four years and six months. The court also set aside Rs3,000 fine imposed on him. “The accused is poor who could not afford to engage an advocate either in this appeal or in the lower court,” the court said.

As per the prosecution case, the girl lived at Kohinoor Mill Chawl at Naigaon, Dadar. On April 23, 2007, the accused forcibly took her to his godown. The accused intended to rape her but panicked when someone banged on the door. Luckily, it was the girl’s mother. The girl ran to her and narrated the incident. Seven witnesses were examined. The accused denied the charges but the court found him guilty.

The high court refused to interfere with the lower court’s order.

Since the accused had not challenged the judgment but sought only a reduction in the sentence, the court limited the hearing to that.