HC upholds 10-year jail term to vegetable seller in rape case

The Delhi High court has upheld a 10-year jail term awarded to a man for raping a five-year-old girl in his rented accommodation here in 2007.
Refusing to interfere with the trial court's decision, Justice S P Garg said that the convict "deserves no leniency particularly when the victim was aged about five years and was like his daughter".
"The appellant's conviction is primarily based upon X's (minor) testimony. She, in her court statement, identified the appellant to be the perpetrator of the crime. She was taken inside the house by the accused on the pretext to give toffee when she was playing outside.

"No ulterior motive was assigned to her for making a falsestatement against him. The accused did not deny his presence inside his house at the relevant time. 'X' aged about five years is not expected to level serious allegation of rape against an innocent one who lived in her neighborhood. There was no previous animosity to falsely rope him in this case," the court noted.
The high court affirmed conviction of Upender Mukhiya, a vegetable seller who appealed against the trial court's April 2010 judgement which had handed him down the jail term of ten years for raping the minor girl.

As per the prosecution, Mukhiya had raped the minor on March 30, 2010 after taking her to his room when she was playing outside her house in Okhla industrial area of South Delhi.

During the trial, the accused pleaded he had been falsely implicated and denied his involvement in the crime.
The court, however, brushed aside the convict's contention and said "since the perpetrator of the crime was known to the victim and belonged to their native place, he deserves no leniency particularly when the victim was aged about five years like his daughter. Sentence of ten years cannot be termed excessive".

It also said "ocular testimony of the prosecutrix is in consonance with medical evidence. ... The trial court judgment is based upon fair and proper appreciation of the evidence.