Maintaining the conviction of a man for raping a minor in a temple in Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court has sentenced him to 30 years rigorous imprisonment without remission.
“We have taken note of the hapless situation of the victim after being taken to a temple by the petitioner-convict. The evidence would reveal that unmindful of the holiness of the place he disrobed her and himself and raped her,” said a bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal maintaining the conviction under Section 376 AB of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Saying that the convict was aged 40 years at the time of incident, the bench said that a fixed term of sentence of 30 years must be the modified sentence of imprisonment.
It also quantified the fine at Rs 1 lakh to be paid to the victim to meet her medical expenses and rehabilitation.
As per the FIR, the 7-year old girl was going to take mango and on the way, the accused met her and asked that he would give her “Namkeen”. The accused took her to the temple and violated her.
The trial court had awarded capital punishment to the accused but the same was not confirmed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court and it was commuted to imprisonment for life.
The appeal before the Supreme Court challenged the quantum of punishment awarded by the High Court when alternative punishment of rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 20 years with fine was also possible.
In its impugned order, the High Court had observed that the offence committed was “not barbaric and brutal” saying that no external injury was found on neck, chick, chest, abdomen, thigh and outer part of the genital part of the victim.
At this, the Supreme Court said: “We are of the concerned view that when the words ‘barbaric’ and ‘brutal’ are used simultaneously they are not to take the character of synonym, but to take distinctive meanings…. it may be true to say that the petitioner-convict had committed the offence of rape brutally, but then, certainly his action was barbaric.”
“We have no hesitation to hold that the fact he had not done it brutally will not make its commission non-barbaric,” it added.
Manipur Police arrest 11 militants, recover large cache of arms, ammunition
The Manipur Police arrested 11 militants belonging to various banned outfits and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition during the past 24 hours, officials said here on Friday.
PM Modi unveils 21-point action plan at 6th BIMSTEC Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday presented a comprehensive 21-point action plan during the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, laying out an ambitious road map for cooperation across diverse sectors.
ED raids multiple premises of 'Empuraan' producer Gokulam Gopalan
Amid the controversy surrounding Malayalam film ‘Empuraan’ starring superstar Mohanlal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at multiple premises linked to film’s producer Gokulam Gopalan.
SC declines PIL seeking restriction of social media platforms for kids below 13 years
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking urgent judicial intervention to regulate access to social media platforms for children below 13 years of age.
BIMSTEC Summit: PM Modi, Yunus meet amid strained ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a bilateral meeting with Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor of Bangladeshi interim government, on the sidelines of the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.
Rupee strengthens against dollar amid Trump's reciprocal tariffs
The Indian rupee witnessed sharp gains on Friday at below 85 against dollar, as the dollar index and oil prices dropped sharply amid concerns over recession in the US economy after the reciprocal tariffs were announced.
Quad to send $20 million relief support to earthquake-ravaged Myanmar
Quad members Australia, India, Japan, and the United States on Friday collectively committed over $20 million in humanitarian assistance to support the relief efforts for the earthquake-devastated Myanmar.
'Waqf Bill will benefit Muslims, no threat to religious sites,' says Shahabuddin Razvi
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi, the National President of All India Muslim Jamaat, expressed his support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, stating that it would significantly benefit Muslims and ensure the betterment of their socio-economic conditions.