Delhi court sentences man to 10-year imprisonment for raping minor

A man has been sentenced by a fast track court here to 10 years in jail for illegally confining and raping a minor girl in his house.

Rejecting a plea for leniency on the ground that the convict had a wife and two children to support, additional sessions judge Virender Bhat, who heads the fast track court at Dwarka, handed down rigorous imprisonment to 27-year-old Mohammed Arif saying he took advantage of a "defenseless" minor girl to commit rape which "is the most hated crime in the society".

The court said taking too sympathetic view for such crime would be counter productive in the long run and against social interest.

"The victim was a minor as well as defenseless girl and the convict (Arif) took advantage of her such state and committed the ghastly act of rape on her while confining her in a room of the house in which he was residing," the judge said and also imposed a fine of Rs35,000 on the convict.

The prosecution had said that on December 16, 2011, evening, Arif had pulled the girl into his house in West Delhi while she was on her way home and had raped her.

She was returning from the nearby market where she had gone to buy eatables, the prosecution had said.

It also said that Arif had threatened to kill her, if she revealed the incident to anyone.

The counsel for the accused had pleaded for a lesser punishment saying he has two minor children and wife and he is the sole earner in the family. The court, however, rejected the counsel's submission saying, "The social impact of the crime, when it relates to the sexual assault upon a woman, which has a great impact upon the social order and public interest, cannot be lost sight of while sentencing a convict.

"These kind of crimes require exemplary treatment and any liberal attitude shown by imposing meagre sentence and taking too sympathetic view would be counter productive in the long run and against the social interest which needs to be cared for and strengthened by adopting a deterrent sentencing policy," the court said.