Man gets 2.5 years jail for molesting neighbour

A Delhi court has awarded two-and-a half-year jail to a man for trespassing and molesting a woman living in his neighbourhood, saying women would not put their reputation in peril by making a false allegation.

The court, while sentencing Govindpuri-resident Javed, observed that a victim of sexual violence would be slow and hesitant in disclosing it.

"Ours is a conservative society and, therefore, a young, unmarried woman will not put her reputation in peril by alleging falsely about the sexual assault. She suffers a tremendous sense of shame and the fear of being shunned by society and her near relatives," Special Judge Sanjiv Jain said.
 

"Instead of treating her with compassion and understanding, as one who is injured victim of a crime, she is, more often than not, treated as a sinner and shunned.

"It must therefore be realized that a woman who is subjected to sex violence would always be slow and hesitant about disclosing her plight," the judge added.

The court further said that a woman, who was a victim of sexual assault, cannot be expected to raise hue and cry in a public place.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict.

According to the prosecution, Javed, an alleged alcoholic who used to reside near the woman's house, had on May 2, 2013, trespassed her house, dragged and gagged her mouth.

He also threatened her while trying to remove her clothes in an attempt to rape her, it said, adding that she managed to push him away and escaped from the house.

During the trial, Javed denied all the allegations and took the plea of alibi. He also alleged that it was a case of previous enmity over sharing of water from a pre-paid tanker.

The court, however, rejected his alibi plea as he failed to prove the claim substantially.

The court, while acquitting the man of the charge of attempt to rape noted that the woman had not mentioned anything in her testimony to constitute the offence of rape.

It held that the necessary ingredients for the offences of Section 451 (House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) has been proved.