The Delhi High Court has awarded five-year imprisonment to a private tutor for repeatedly attempting to rape a seven-year-old student, saying the emotional distress suffered by the child would not wean out from her system for long.
Justice Indermeet Kaur upheld the conviction and jail term of Naresh Kumar and said there was no mitigating circumstances in his favour to give him a sentence lesser than what was awarded by the trial court.
The high court said the man's conviction for the offence of attempting to rape does not suffer from any infirmity and his five-year rigorous jail term cannot be faulted with, noting the "nature of the crime".
"The victim, a seven-year-old girl, has been attacked not only in body but also in mind, the psychological and emotional distress suffered by her would probably not wean out from her system for years together," it said.
It said the courts have time and again held that a demand for justice and the award of punishment have to be in consonance with one another.
The court dismissed his appeal saying it was without any merit and said the convict, who is on bail after spending two years and four months in jail, be taken into custody forthwith to serve the remaining sentence.
It said the minor's testimony was consistent on all squares and her description of the incident was sufficient proof of the conviction which has followed in this case.
A complaint was lodged by the child's mother in May 2008 alleging that the man tried to rape her daughter and also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
She told the court that the man used to come to her house to give tuitions to her daughter, a student of class III, and would ask her to remove her clothes.
The child, while narrating the acts of the tutor, had told the court that he tried to rape her repeatedly after bolting the door and threatened to beat her if she disclosed it to anyone.
Once, the child's mother came in and saw the man assaulting her daughter, following which she raised an alarm but he fled the spot. He was arrested later.
The man, in his defence, claimed innocence and said he has been falsely implicated.
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