A security guard has been sent to 10 years in jail for raping and molesting a Burmese woman refugee by a Delhi court which said it was his legal and moral duty to ensure no harm is caused to anyone who has taken refuge in his country.
Additional Sessions Judge Nivedita Anil Sharma awarded the jail term to 43-year-old Ranjeet Singh, resident of Vikas Puri, and also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on him.
It directed the Delhi Government to pay an appropriate compensation to the woman, a mother of four children, under the Delhi Victims Compensation Scheme which entitles a rape victim to a minimum compensation of Rs two lakhs.
"The woman, who is a Burmese refugee, sought support from our country, a refugee-receiving State.Being the host country, it was the duty of all Indians including the convict to ensure that no harm comes to her.
"It was not only a legal duty but also a moral duty since the prosecutrix had taken refuge in our country. However, the faith reposed in this country by her was shattered when the convict committed the offences of rape and outrage of modesty against her," the judge said.
"Recently, crime against women generally and rape in particular is on the increase and the society also appears to be concerned for the honour of women. In this backdrop, this court is required to treat the issue with more sensitivity...
"The offences against women are on a rise and there is an urgent need to curb this tendency by awarding deterrent punishment to perpetrators of this grave offence," the court observed in its judgement.
As the woman and her husband do not know English and Hindi, their statement was recorded in the court with the help of an officer of Embassy of Union of Myanmar here who translated the evidence and the complaint was also registered through him.
As per the police, the woman was raped by Singh on March 2, 2011, when her husband had gone out for sometime and her son was playing outside. The door was left open and Singh, who was the woman's neighbour, entered her house and rape her.
