On Wednesday, a court in Srinagar handed down a ten-year jail term to a man for his role in the 2012 rape of a juvenile girl in the Soura neighbourhood.
Irshad Ahmad of Ahlan Gadwak Kokernag was sentenced by the Court of 2nd Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar, Renu Dogra Gupta, the day after being found guilty of an offence under section 376 of the RPC. The convicted person will spend his time in Central Jail Srinagar, as directed by the court.
The court also ordered the prisoner, who lives in Anchar Soura, to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.
The court ordered that the defendant serve an additional six months of simple jail if the fine was not paid. However, it ruled that the jail time the offender had already served throughout the case’s investigation, inquiry, and trial may be included towards his final sentence.
Additional Public Prosecutor Farooq Ahmad Malik argued before the court that the accused should be sentenced to life in prison for the “brutal act.”He said the convicted criminal victimised the girl, who was less than 14, without expressing any compassion or sympathy. He contended that the criminal deserved no sympathy since he had shown none to the young, defenceless girl.
The defendant’s attorney claimed that his client should be granted leniency since he supports his wife and two young children alone.
The court convicted the defendant because he had threatened the victim with physical harm if she told anybody about the rape he had performed on her and had also bound her lips to prevent her from speaking out.
“The accused being a major and married person was fully aware of the consequences of his barbaric act,” the court ruled.
It was determined that the victim girl, while being a young and innocent, stayed silent in response to the accused’s threats, which led to her being pregnant.
The judge said that the victim may have endured unimaginable pain. And (she’s) lost everything, her reputation, her pride, her education, her future, etc. An innocent youngster fell prey to the accused’s passion, and she was a defenceless victim of a diabolical person whose only transgression was that she sometimes visited the rental home where the accused lived with his younger brother to play.
A crime of this sort committed against a young girl is a crime against society, the court said.
The prosecution claims that the girl’s father reported his daughter missing after he brought her to the doctor to treat her for stomach discomfort. Doctors found out she was expecting.
According to the little child, the horrible crime was committed by a “tenant” who lived in their Soura region neighbourhood.
On June 23, 2012, a complaint was filed against him at the Soura police station (FIR No. 33/2012) for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 376 RPC, and an investigation and charge sheet were subsequently filed.
