The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday reduced the sentence granted to a person convicted of raping a four-year-old girl, from capital punishment to rigorous life imprisonment saying that that his “act was brutal” but “he has not committed brutality”.
A bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Devnarayan Mishra wrote in the order passed on 19th June, “Looking to the above observations and discussions, in this case, no doubt that appellant’s act was brutal as he has committed rape upon the victim of four years and three months of age and after committing rape also throttled her treating her dead and thrown the victim in such a place where she could not be searched and left the spot but it is also clear that he has not committed brutality.”
Convict did not get a proper atmosphere to grow up: HC
While commuting his death sentence, the High Court took into consideration the background of the convict. The court noted that the convict was a poor, uneducated tribal, whose did not get a “proper atmosphere” to grow up.
“…he is uneducated youth of 20 years of age and belongs to the tribal community and his parents never tried to give him education and not properly take care of him, therefore he has left his house and was self-bread earner and living and working in a Dhaba (Restaurant). Atmosphere in the Dhaba is not such, by which it can be inferred that he was given the proper atmosphere to grow up. Hence, sentence imposed upon the appellant for the offence punishable under Sections 363, 450, 307, 201 of the Indian Penal Code is affirmed but his sentence for the offence punishable under Sections 6 of the POCSO Act is converted from Capital Punishment to the rigorous imprisonment of 25 years with the fine amount of Rs.10,000/- and in default of fine amount (actual incarceration without remission/commission under Section 432 and 433 of Code of Criminal Procedure), the appellant shall further suffer rigorous imprisonment of one year,” the Court noted while reducing his punishment.
The High Court observed that the aggravating circumstances in the case were the ages of the victim and the convict. “There are aggravating circumstances that the victim was four years old and the rape was committed upon such a kid and offence was committed in such a way that the private part of the victim was torn and after committing the offence, the victim was thrown in the solitary place treating her that she had died,” the judges said.
Background of the case
The convict, Rajaram, had challenged the conviction order passed the Special Judge (POCSO Act), District Khandwa, which sentenced him to death on 21 April 2023 under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. He was also convicted under Sections 363, 376AB, 307, 450, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code. On the day of the incident, Rajaram barged into the victim’s hut and kidnapped her. He brutally raped the child and then left her unconscious in a mango orchard believing her to be dead. However, the victim somehow survived.
