A 20-year-old youth has been jailed for 10 years for kidnapping and raping a three-year-old girl by a Delhi court which observed that children across the nation are at a "risk".
The court refused to show any leniency to Mohammed Moim, saying children of this age are vulnerable and easy prey to such sexual assaults.
"The victim in this case is just aged three years and she was subjected to horrific and sadistic sexual assault. A recent report by Asian Centre for Women Rights says that incidents of child rape have multiplied in the last decade.
"The recent horrific incidents of rape have created a furore in the society. It appears that across the nation childhood is at risk. The children of this age are vulnerable and easy prey to such sexual assaults. In view of these circumstances the convict deserves no leniency," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg said.
The court imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on Moim. It directed that the copy of the judgement be sent to Delhi State Legal Services Authority, East Delhi, with a direction to pay compensation to the victim as per provisions of guidelines of Delhi Government under Victim Compensation Scheme.
According to police, the incident took place in November 2011, when the minor girl was playing outside her house. After the child's father left the place, the youth took away the victim with him.
Bihar native Moim took the child to a park and raped her behind the bushes, it said, adding the victim's father came to know from his neighbour that the youth had taken away his daughter and he went to Mandawali Police Station.
The child was rescued after two home guards caught the accused with the victim in a park and brought both of them to the police station where Moim was arrested.
The youth claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case.
The court rejected the contention of the defence counsel that the child was not examined in the case which is fatal to the prosecution case.
The judge said no doubt in such types of cases, statement of the victim is of utmost importance but here the child was just three-year-old and she was not called by the court to depose as she was too young to understand the incident.
By all parameters she cannot be put in the category of a competent witness to testify before the court, the judge said.
