Allahabad Bank's ex-official jailed for 7 yrs on rape charge

Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau imposed the minimum jail term, prescribed for a rape convict, on 51-year-old former chief manager of the bank's branch at Parliament Street after the victim and her husband told the court that they do not want the offender's family to suffer for his fault.

The victim and her husband also told the court that convict Raghuvinder Harna is ready to publicly apologise to rpt to the victim for his misdeed in the presence of the senior members of the two families and accordingly they were intending to reach an out-of-court settlement on the issue and appeal to the high court for quashing of the case.

"Under the given circumstances when the parties are in a process of out-of-court settlement after the convict (bank manager) publicly apologises in front of their senior members of both the families, I, hereby, award rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years to the convict," ASJ Lau said.

She also said the sentence imposed by her would be subject to the outcome of their joint appeal to the Delhi High Court for quashing the criminal case against Harna.

The judge said Harna breached the trust reposed in him by his friend who offered him shelter at his house in Delhi while he was looking for an accommodation after his transfer here from Kolkata.

The prosecution said Harna had come to the victim's house on November 12, 2009, looking for a rented accommodation for himself and stayed there for a night and raped her the following day when the victim's husband had left for the office and the children for the school.