Life term to man for rape of 3-year-old girl

Saurabh Malik

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14

Amid rising number of Covid cases, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has decided a decade-old case to ensure justice to a girl raped at the age of three by a father of seven. Her widow mother not only had to face the trauma of seeing her daughter being raped, but was also accused of implicating the rapist following his refusal to marry her.

To substantiate his plea, the accused in his defence had examined his wife as a defence witness. She stated that the complainant-mother wanted to marry her husband and had filed a false case as he had refused to marry her. She also stated that prosecutrix suffered injuries while she was playing on a swing. The defence, however, failed to find favour with the Bench, which described it as a “faint attempt” to secure acquittal.

Mom heard scream

• On October 13, 2010, the victim had gone out of the house to play.
• Her mother went looking for her after she didn’t return.
• In the process, she reached the hut of the accused and entered after hearing her daughter’s screams.

The matter was placed before the Bench of Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Archana Puri after the 42-year-old convict filed an appeal against the State of Haryana challenging the judgment of conviction and order of life sentence passed in the rape case in February 2012 by the Fatehabad Additional Sessions Judge.

The Bench, during the course of hearing, was told that the victim on October 13, 2010, had gone out of the house to play. The complainant went looking for her after she did not return. In the process, she reached the hut of the accused and entered after hearing her daughter’s screams.

Refusing to interfere with the trial court orders, the Bench asserted: “Keeping in view the age of the appellant, who is married man having seven children, as gathered from the evidence and also considering the age of the prosecutrix, the sentence so imposed upon the appellant is just and reasonable”.

The Bench added much emphasis was laid throughout the arguments on the complainant’s sole testimony. It was submitted that her statement was not trustworthy and reliable. But the submission was not tenable.