A Somalian national, who was accused of attempting to rape a woman hailing from his country, has been sent to three years in jail by a Delhi court for molesting her here.
The court held Somalian national Mahad Yusuf guilty of outraging the modesty of woman, causing her injuries and trespassing her house under the IPC and also imposed a nominal fine of Rs 2,000 on him considering that he was a refugee and the amount would be paid as compensation to the victim.
Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja said from the testimony of the woman, it does not establish that 23-year-old Yusuf attempted to rape her.
"The facts of the present case thus, clearly indicate that accused assaulted and used criminal force with intent to outrage modesty of prosecutrix and thereby committed offence punishable under section 354 of the IPC....," the court said.
It also asked the Delhi Legal Aid Services to decide the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the woman under the Victim Compensation Scheme and directed that a copy of the court's judgement be sent to DLSA Secretary (central district) for necessary action.
According to the prosecution, the woman was living at a rented premises in Wazirabad as a refugee and the accused who was known to her was also residing nearby.
On the evening of March 27, 2014, the youth had come to the woman's house for dinner and after having food, he left for sometime and again returned to her place in the night.
Thereafter, the woman sent Yusuf to bring some coal from a neighbour's house and he returned at around 1.30 AM after which she requested him to leave as she wanted to sleep.
He agreed to go, but when the woman tried to lock the door, he caught hold of her and assaulted her and pushed her on the bed, police said, adding that she scratched his face with nails and hit him with the lock.
When the woman tried to raise an alarm, he slapped her and tried to strangulate her after which she bit him and turned him out of the house. The woman informed the police the next morning and Yusuf was arrested.
During the trial, the youth claimed innocence and alleged that he was falsely implicated in the case as the woman had demanded money from him and also threatened to lodge a false case against him.
Yusuf's counsel sought leniency saying the woman in her affidavit in the Delhi High Court had stated that she had forgiven the accused and does not want him to be punished.
