Ambala youth gets 20-yr RI for sexual assault on minor

Ambala, September 20

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Aarti Singh sentenced a youth to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 20 years for committing penetrative sexual assault on a minor girl.

The fast-track court constituted under the POCSO Act held Shunty of Ambala guiltyof the crime. The incident was reported in December 2020 when a 14-year-old girl accused her neighbour of sexually assaulting and impregnating her.

Praying for leniency, the convict claimed that his father was blind and mother worked as a domestic help. Both of them were dependent on him, he stated.

Public prosecutor Surjeet Singh submitted that the convict committed an aggravated penetrative sexual assault on the minor prosecutrix and deserved no leniency.

In its order, the court observed that Shunty committed repeated penetrative sexual assault on the minor girl. He befriended her, took advantage of her minority and sexually assaulted her. As a result, the girl got pregnant and had an abortion. She faced traumatic experience at a tender age and such acts left a scar on the psyche of a minor child.

Shunty was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of 20 years and a fine of Rs 25,000 was imposed on him under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. He was awarded rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 506 of the IPC. Both sentences would run concurrently.

The court awarded a relief of Rs 3 lakh to the victim.