The convict in 2016 rape case of a five-year-old girl returned to the spotlight on Tuesday (February 10) after the Bombay High Court reduced his life sentence to 12 years, citing his young age at the time and a rather strange reformative action of participation in an essay programme on Mahatma Gandhi. While the court upheld the conviction under the POCSO Act, it was also concerned with the severity of the offense as against the rehabilitation efforts, which included education obtained while the criminal was behind bars.

A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Sandesh Patil, in its February 2 order, a copy of which was made available on Tuesday, upheld the conviction of the man in the 2016 offence, but noted the life sentence imposed on him deserves to be reduced. The bench gave the order while hearing to an appeal filed by the convict, where he challenged the life sentence given to him by a special POCSO court.

The court in it's statement noted that the convict was 20 years old at the time of the crime and had no prior criminal record. It also mentioned that the person had been in custody since December 2016, and was not even released during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bench also considered certificates showing his participation in prison educational activities, including an essay competition and a programme studying the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi.

Taking into account these reformative factors against the seriousness of the crime, the bench held, "In our opinion, the sentence of 12 years would meet the ends of justice."

The period which the convict has already spent in jail will be set off against the reduced sentence, it added. The case stated that on December 9, 2016, the victim - then aged five - went to the neighbour's house to fetch water, where the accused sexually assaulted her.

The kid immediately informed about the incident to her mother, who confronted the accused before the family filed a formal police complaint. The victim also testified in the trial court at the age of eight.

The HC found the minor girl's testimony reliable and consistent, noting she had narrated the incident clearly and without tutoring.

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Sudhanshu Mishra is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Now. While his day-to-day work centres on news, his writing interests lie in the intersections of cu...View More

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