A Delhi sessions court reduced the one-year jail term awarded to a man for molesting a mentally challenged girl here eight years ago and sent him to six months' jail Monday.
The court took a lenient view towards Raj Kumar, who moved court challenging the magisterial order, and reduced the jail term.
Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain said that though Kumar was guilty, "he has been facing the agony of trial for the last eight years and he has no criminal antecedents and deserves some leniency".
"Accordingly, I hereby reduce the sentence of rigorous imprisonment of one year to six months," the judge said.
Challenging his conviction and the sentence by the magisterial court, Raj Kumar had approached the sessions court saying it had failed to appreciate that the victim did not utter even a single word against him.
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The incident occurred in October 2004 when two constables deployed at Daryaganj area in Delhi were informed by a passerby at night that two men were sexually assaulting a girl in the bushes behind Samta Sthal.
When police reached the spot, they saw accused Raj Kumar and his associate Amit Kumar molesting a girl.
During the trial, Amit Kumar stopped appearing in the court and was declared a proclaimed offender.
Police said that on inquiry, it was revealed that the girl was mentally challenged and could not even tell her own name.