SC restores conviction of 2 British paedophiles

A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan favoured all the stakeholders, including the NGOs, to properly implement the measures guaranteed under the Constitution for the protection of children.

“Children are the greatest gift to humanity. The sexual abuse of children is one of the most heinous crimes. It is an appalling violation of their trust, an ugly breach of our commitment to protect the innocent,” the court said.

It directed two British—Allan John Waters and Duncan Alexander Grant—to serve their remaining prison term of one- year and two-year-and-ten-month respectively. Both were sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the trial court in 2006.

The apex court also overturned the acquittal of their Indian associate William D’souza, a manager in the shelters for homeless—Anchorage Shelters — run by them at three places in Mumbai. D’souza had already served the five-year jail term awarded to him.

The Bench also asked the two British convicts to pay a compensation of £20,000 each to the victims, allowing an appeal filed by the Childline India Foundation and Maharashtra government against the 2008 verdict of the Bombay High Court.