The 10-year-old girl, who delivered a baby after two of her uncles raped her, is "bound to carry the scars for her entire life," observed a Chandigarh court as it sentenced today the two convicted men to life imprisonment.
"A child who suffers such depravity is bound to carry the scars for her entire life...she has been given such scars which will remain with her throughout the life and would keep haunting her at every stage," Additional Sessions judge Poonam R Joshi observed in her order.
"In the present case, small child has not only been raped but she has been made to give birth to a small child who has also been left alone in the cruel world. The offence committed by the accused does not call for any leniency rather the gravity of the offence calls for a severe punishment so that it acts as deterrent to the other persons who threaten the fabric of the society, its peace and tranquillity," the judge wrote.
The heinous nature of the act is aggravated when none else but the protectors of the small child have ravaged her, the order said.
"The age of the convict is almost that of the father of the prosecutrix. Such an old age person did not even hesitate to continue to the act when the small child whose age was to play and enjoy was burdened with pregnancy by the convict. The convict has committed a heinous sinful and immoral act," said the judge.
In India rape case either do not get reported for various reasons or do not reach a conclusive state with culprits roaming free eyeing their next target, the order said.
The court today sentenced to life imprisonment two brothers held guilty of raping their 10-year-old niece who delivered a child in August after the Supreme Court rejected a plea seeking termination of her pregnancy.
Additional District and Sessions Judge while pronouncing the quantum of sentence, also imposed a fine of Rs 3.05 lakh each.
"The court today pronounced life imprisonment for both the brothers in the rape case," said counsel Manjit Singh, who represented the elder brother.
Public prosecutor Atul Sethi said, "They will stay in jail till death."
This is a very good decision and the verdict will be a lesson for those who indulge in such heinous crimes, he said.
Sethi said Rs 6 lakh would be given as compensation to the victim while Rs 10,000 would go to the state.
On October 31, the court had held the maternal uncles guilty of raping the girl.
They had been charged under Section 376(2)(f)(i) (rape on a woman when she is under twelve years of age) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
The crime came to light in July when the girl was taken to a hospital after complaining of stomachache and was found to be over 30 weeks pregnant.
On July 28, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking its nod to terminate the 32-week pregnancy after taking note of a medical report that stated abortion was neither good for the girl nor for the foetus.
The child was told by her family and the doctors that she had a stone in her stomach that had to be removed.
It was earlier suspected that her elder uncle had fathered the baby who was delivered through C-section at a government hospital here.
The twist in the case came this month when a fresh DNA test showed the younger maternal uncle to be the father of the child.
The elder uncle's DNA sample had not matched the newborn following which suspicion fell on the younger uncle who, too, had been accused of rape by the child.
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