Boy sentenced to 20 years for raping 5-year-old in Mathura

A local court sentenced a minor to 20 years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1 lakh convicting him for raping a child in Prem Nagar area of the district, a court official said on Saturday.

As per the judgement, the convict was awarded a 20 years' sentence under the POCSO Act, and another 10 years under the section 376 of the IPC, both of which will run concurrently.

“The period for which the convict was in jail during the trial would be adjusted in the final sentence,” additional district counsel Subhash Chandra Chaturvedi said.

The incident happened on February 5, 2018, when Suraj, the convict, raped a five-year-old girl in his neighbourhood when her mother was away, said the counsel.

The girl’s mother and her grandmother had left the child under the care of Suraj and his Bhabhi, he said.

Upon their return, when she was brought back home by Suraj, the girl’s grandmother found her vomiting.

Thinking she was sick, the family gave her medicine and the child recovered after some time, ADGC said.

The following day, she told her family about how she was forced into sex by the accused.

Hemlata, the girl’s mother, then filed a complaint with the police, which booked Suraj under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and 3 and 6 of the Prevention of Sexual Offences against Children (POCSO) Act.

According to Chaturvedi, the defence counsel had pleaded for a lenient sentence suspecting the veracity of the incident and the age of the convict, who also is a minor.

The prosecution in its turn argued that the crime was “heinous” and asked the Judge to consider the accused as a major in line with the recommendation of Juvenile Justice Board, he said.

Additional Special Judge Amar Singh in his verdict also said if the convict fails to pay the fine, he will have to serve two additional sentences of 6 months each, the counsel said.

However, both the sentences will run concurrently, he added.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: