Delhi court sentences 2 men to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in 2013 Gudiya rape case

A Delhi court on Thursday sentenced two men to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in 2013 kidnapping and rape case of a 5-year-old girl, dubbed Gudiya by a section of the media. 

The five-year-old girl was found in a critical condition at a neighbour's rented accommodation.

A Special POCSO court at Karkardooma had found the two accused - Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar - guilty of various offences on January 18. 

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra said it took into consideration the young age and economic background of the convicts but in the interest of justice, it deemed it appropriate to sentence them to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for the offence punishable under section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 31,500 on each of the two convicts.

The judge also granted a compensation of Rs 11 lakh to the victim, to be paid by the Delhi Legal Services Authority, out of which Rs 2 lakh is to be released to her immediately.

"I am of the view that the injuries suffered by the victim cannot be quantified in monetary terms. Taking into consideration the mental pressure or harassment which victim has suffered and her economic status, and that she was raped repeatedly and left to die, I deem it appropriate to grant a final compensation to the tune of Rs 11 lakh," the judge said in the order.

Earlier this month, the judge had convicted the two men under the POCSO Act.

"In our society, the minor girls are worshipped as goddess on certain occasions but in the present case the victim child had experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality," the court had said as it delivered its verdict. 

"The crime against the victim was committed in a most grotesque and revolting manner and the collective conscience of the community was shaken," the court added.

The girl was reported missing on April 15, 2013 and was rescued on April 17 from a neighbour's rented accommodation in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar. She was admitted to Delhi's AIIMS in a critical condition and accused were arrested separately from Bihar.

The case that came barely four months after the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder had created a huge outrage because of the nature of the brutality. 

When the girl was rescued, traces of candles and bottles were found inside her private parts. The two men had fled after raping Gudiya and shoving a candle and bottle inside her private parts, believing that the child had died. 

Delhi police had registered a case and slapped various charges, including of attempt to murder and rape.