Srinagar- Observing that child sexual abuse is a serious and heinous offence against the society and humanity, a trial court in north Kashmir’s Handwara on Wednesday held a 26-year-old man guilty for raping a 13-year-old girl in 2016 and awarded him ten years rigorous imprisonment and imposed Rs 50,000 fine.
While awarding the sentence, Additional Sessions Court Handwara Umi Kulsoom observed that when a woman is ravished, it is not merely physical injury inflicted upon her but a “deep sense of some deathless shame.”
“Where a rape is committed on a child below sixteen years of age, the normal sentence which can be awarded is not less than 10 years rigorous imprisonment,” the court said while awarding ten years rigorous imprisonment and fine to the convict, Showkat Ahmad, a resident of Khudi Mawar area of the district.
In default of payment of fine, the court said that the convict shall go further six months for simple imprisonment and pay a compensation of Rs.50,000 to the victim and in default whereof to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months.
“The victim/prosecutrix was 13 years 4 months and 11 days of age at the time of commission of offence as per the School record,” the court said, adding, “(She) was a helpless child. The convict, who at the time of occurrence was the age of 18 years 3 months and 4 days, shattered the dignity of prosecutrix; she has to bear the burden of the act committed by the convict throughout her life.”
The physical scar may have healed up, but the mental and emotional scar will always remain, the court said.
“When a woman is ravished, what is inflicted is not merely physical injury but the deep sense of some deathless shame,” the court said, adding, “Child sexual abuse is a serious and heinous offence against the society and humanity.”
To show mercy in child sexual abuse case would be a travesty of justice, the court said.
“The socioeconomic status of the convict in child sexual abuse case is not a relevant consideration in awarding punishment. The convict shattered the basic human right of the victim to live with honour and dignity,” the court said, adding, “Judicial response to human rights cannot be blunted by legal jugglery. No special and adequate circumstances exist which may warrant the awarding of sentence less than ten years rigorous imprisonment to the convict”.
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