Retd officer gets 10 yrs for rape at police station

Judge also pulls up the force for shoddy probe in 15-yr-old case

 A retired Delhi Police officer has been sent to 10 years jail for repeatedly raping a widow in a police station 15 years ago.

The fast track court said he does not deserve leniency as he committed the crime under the “shield of his uniform”.

The court also observed that even after the brutal December 16 gang rape here, prompting the government to take some stern measures such as making amendments in criminal law, rapes continue unabated.

“One of the reasons may be that sentences handed over to rapists by the judiciary are not deterrent enough. In my opinion, in order to avoid recurrence of rape, it is absolutely necessary to ignore insignificant mitigating factors and to impose stringent sentences upon convicts,” said additional sessions judge Virender Bhat.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on 70-year-old Brahamjit, who was a sub-inspector at Jaffarpur Kalan at the time of the incident in 1998. The court said if the fine amount is recovered, it should be given to the victim.

The court also pulled up police for their “shoddy and flimsy” probe to save their colleague. “The victim, a widow, was pitted against the whole police department. It would have required intense courage for her to continue struggling against the whole police department and fight for justice,” said the court.

The woman, who was 35 at the time of the crime, in her complaint before a magistrate said that on the night of April 12, 1998 Brahamjit came to her house and illegally took away her son and kept him in custody.

He again came to her house in the morning of April 20 and forcibly put her and her daughter in a jeep. But he left her daughter when neighbours protested.

The woman said she was confined at the police station till the next morning and was raped by Brahamjit repeatedly. He also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone.