6-yr-old lured with food,raped: Handicapped man gets 10yr jail

A 50-year-old handicapped man has been sentenced to ten years in jail by a Delhi court for repeatedly raping a six-year-old footpath dweller by luring her with food.

Observing that "it was because of her poverty and lack of resources and shelter that the minor was exploited by the convict," the court recommended the case to District Legal Services Authority for suitable compensation to the victim and her rehabilitation.

Additional Sessions Judge Savita Rao awarded ten year jail term to old Delhi resident Sushil alias Langra, for raping and committing unnatural offences with the victim, who told the court that the convict had an evil eye on her younger sister too.

The court noted that "even the convict's physical impediment did not deter his evil intentions."

The court also appreciated the complainant child rights advocate Swati who took the matter to the police.

"The initiative of the activist to lodge the complaint is rather appreciable and laudable, otherwise the victim would have continued to suffer in the hands of the accused. Had she not lent her sympathetic ears to the innocent children, they would have continued to suffer in the evil hands," the court said.

The prosecution case was that on August 29, 2011 the complainant associated with NGO Butterflies along with the minor girl lodged a complaint with the police that Langra had been raping and sodomising her. 

The NGO was running their contact point at a convent school in old Delhi for the last three years. The victim, along with her brother was also in the study group of the NGO.
On August 29, 2011, the victim's brother told Swati that he had seen his sister sleeping with Langra, who also lives on the same footpath.

On this, the complainant made inquries with the victim, who disclosed that Langra used to take her along with him in the night hours on the promise of a good meal and when others were asleep, he used to rape her and also commit digital and unnatural offence with her.

She said the accused has committed the offence on her a number of times and that once she raised an alarm, Langra had slapped her. The minor did not tell her parents about it out of fear.

When the NGO discussed the matter with the victim's parents, they refused to take any action following which she herself reported the matter to the police.