67 years old man sentenced to 25 years jail for raping a minor
The accused was seen raping the 15 years old victim by a person of the village who raised alram and called the father of the victim. It was reported that the victim was stopped when she was returning from school by the accused in the forest area that falls on her way to home. He was grazing his goats in the forest when she reached there. It was alleged that he took her to a nullah nearby and committed the crime.
hillquest
Hamirpur, December 23
The session court here had convicted a 67 years old rape accused for 25 years of imprisonment and fine of Rs. One lac here on December 20. The accused was identified as Joginder Singh of village Darr in Nadaun sub division in the district. The court, in it's orders mentioned that 50 percent of the fine realised be given to the victim.
Justice Bhuvnesh Awasthi in his orders wrote, “To an injured, there is an injury in the physical form, while in the case of sexual/physical assault, it is both physical as well as emotional injury. Her sole testimony is sufficient to bring home the guilt of the accused..and so on".
While pronouncing the sentence he further mentioned that the Court cannot afford to be casual while imposing the sentence and the courts must see that the public does not lose confidence in the judicial system. Imposing inadequate sentences will do more harm to the justice system and may lead to a state where the victim loses confidence in the judicial system and resorts to private vengeance.
As per the report the police had registered the FIR in the case on February23, 2023 on the complaint of father of the victim. It was alleged that the accused was seen raping the 15 years old victim by a person of the village who raised alram and called the father of the victim. It was reported that the victim was stopped when she was returning from school by the accused in the forest area that falls on her way to home. He was grazing his goats in the forest when she reaached there. It was alleged that he took her to a nullah neaby and committed the crime. It was mentioned in the orders that the victim told the court that the accusesd was raping the minor from last over an year and had threatened to kill her family members if she narrated the crime to anyone.
Pertinent to mention that the victim who was class 10 student had lost her mother ten years ago and her father was upbringing her.
Sandeep Agnihotri public prosecutor contested the case for the victim. The prosecution submites over 43 exhibits and 25 materiels with about 19 witness to bring the case to conclusion.
Rajesh Kumar ASP said that the court had convicted an accused under POCSO act for 25years sentence. The case was registered in Nadaun police station in February 2023, he added.
