A man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for raping a nine-year-old girl, by a Delhi court which relied on the testimony of the victim.
Additional Sessions Judge Gulshan Kumar handed down the jail term to Alauddin, a native of Bihar, while holding him guilty for the offences of rape (section 376) and procuration of minor girl (section 366A) under IPC.
"Prosecutrix (girl) has categorically stated that she was raped by accused (Alauddin)....Her statement is corroborated by the medical evidence," the judge said while relying on the victim's statement.
"It is now a well-settled principle of law that conviction can be sustained on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix if it inspires confidence....," the court said, adding that the testimony of the witness was consistent and there was no discrepancy in it.
The court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict, observed, "A girl or a woman in the tradition-bound non-permissive society of India would be extremely reluctant even to admit that any incident which is likely to reflect on her chastity had even occurred.
"She would be conscious of the danger of being ostracised by society and when in the face of these factors the crime is brought to light, there is inbuilt assurance that the charge is genuine rather than fabricated."
According to the prosecution, on the afternoon of July 2, 2009, Alauddin, who was the minor girl's neighbour, took her to his house on the pretext of giving her some empty bottles which she wanted and raped her.
In her statement, the girl told the police that she was outside her house when Alauddin took her to his house and raped her, it said.
A neighbour found her and took her to the police station after which her parents were informed. Thereafter, her parents took her to a hospital where she was admitted for two days, it added.
Alauddin had denied the allegations and claimed that he was falsely implicated by the girl's father.
