HC increases jail term of man for raping 2-year-old

Observing that “showing leniency in such matters would be really a case of misplaced sympathy,” the Delhi high court has upheld the conviction and increased the sentence of a man for sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl in Gazipur in East Delhi in 2011.

The trial court had awarded seven years of imprisonment to convict Ranjan Kumar. The high court enhanced his imprisonment to ten years, saying that “the punishment awarded by the trial court is not commensurate with the crime committed by him to award lesser punishment.”

“Showing leniency in such matters would be really a case of misplaced sympathy. Act of the accused was both despicable and reprehensible, reflecting a perverted mind, deserving the befitting sentence,” the high court observed.

The accused had assaulted the victim in the toilet of the landlord of the rented accommodation where her family stayed. The victim’s family was the tenant of Ranjan’s cousin.

The medical report and forensic test also proved that the child was sexually assaulted. Though the prosecution could not connect the accused with the crime on the basis of the forensic test but the court pronounced him guilty as he failed to prove that he was not present at the rented residential premises of the victim’s father.

Evidence by the victim and her sister also proved crucial in nailing down the accused. The victim reiterated her statement recorded by the Metropolitan Magistrate in the trial of the case as well.

“Since ‘X’ (victim) was an immature infant girl aged around two years, she was unable to give complete and exhaustive details of the incident. It shows that she was not tutored by her parents (as alleged by counsel for the accused). Nothing more can be expected from a child of this age,” the High Court said, rejecting the appeal by the accused against the trial court judgment.