A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in a rape case by a Delhi court which said he deserved to be punished for the vile and reprehensible crime that had "shredded" the victim's dignity.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain handed down the jail term to south Delhi resident Bhagwan Das alias Rahul, a married man with four children, for raping a woman on the pretext of helping her secure bail for her husband who was arrested in a theft case.
"The convict in this case has committed the vile act of rape and he deserves to be suitably punished for it.
"It is true that the convict is 35-year old and has a family to support but on the other hand we must see the plight of the woman who was subjected to rape, which is universally considered to be the amongst the most morally and physically reprehensible crime in society and assault on the body, mind, privacy and the entire fabric of the victim. Her dignity is shredded," the judge observed.
The court also said the social stigma attached to this crime is such that many a time, a crime would go unreported by the victim.
It imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict and directed that an appropriate compensation be decided for the victim by Secretary,DelhiLegalServiceAuthority,South District.
According to the prosecution, the woman, a mother of two minor girls, had on November 26, 2014 alleged that after her husband's arrest, Das, who was a family friend, assured her help to get him out of jail by introducing her to a lawyer.
After he gained her trust, the accused took her to a flat on the pretext of making her meet a lawyer but sexually assaulted her and threatened to get her husband killed in jail, it said.
Three-four days after the incident, she mustered the courage to get an FIR lodged, the prosecution said.
Relying on the statement of the victim, the court said she has remained consistent and "there was no attempt on her
part to misrepresentthefact".
The court also rejected the contention of the defence counsel that there was delay in registering the FIR saying the courts cannot always be suspicious about the delays especially in cases relating to a crime against women.
"CourtsarealivetothesocialrealitiesofIndian society wherewomenfinditverydifficulttocomeoutof the closet and reportsuchmatters toPoliceforfearof humiliation. Ifthe delayiswellexplained,Courtwillaccept thesame andnot attachanysignificancetothesame," it said.
During the proceedings, the accused had denied the allegations and claimed that the woman was in love with him.
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