SHILLONG: The Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya has upheld the 10-year sentence awarded to an accused in the rape of a minor in the city.
The court gave the verdict on Friday after hearing an appeal by the accused.
The incident took place in 2003 when the victim, who is related to the accused, was seven years old.
The charge-sheet was filed in 2013 and the accused, Joken Kharsati, an engineer in the Telecom Department, was convicted by the Additional Judge, District Council Court, Shillong, in 2017 under Section 376 (2) (f), which is rape, and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Besides the rigorous imprisonment of 10 years, a fine of Rs 10,000 was imposed and in default of payment of fine, he has to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. The amount of fine if recovered has to be paid to the victim.
The incident took place when the victim was staying with her two elder sisters in a house at Nongthymmai Jylli Shop in the city.
The accused was also staying there in another part of the house. The wife of the accused is her niece. The mother-in-law of the accused used to pick her up from school at 12 noon and look after her till her elder sisters returned from school.
On the day of the incident, the mother-in-law was not at home and the wife of the accused picked up the victim from school and after helping her to cross the road, she asked her to go to her place because she had to go somewhere else and also told the victim that the accused was at home.
The accused raped the minor and at a later stage, he repeated the same crime.
Out of shame and agony, the girl tried to commit suicide on several occasions.
Adding to the trauma, the victim fell sick multiple times.
It was after seven years of the incident of rape that the victim’s family got the courage to file FIR though an attempt was made to settle the matter within the family.
The victim had revealed the incident of crime to a nun after she was shifted to a different school on the outskirts of Shillong and subsequently to her mother.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Judge SR Sen summed up the order, “Humanity feels ashamed when it is noticed that a woman folk had been scandalised. Woman, a grandmother, mother, sister and daughter what sweetest words, full with affection, but subjected to unforeseen situation. A person who did not spare a ‘tiny tot’ not knowing what ravishing means, a small flower yet to bloom, can such a person, who tarnished, ravished and brutalised a female baby of 7 years of age, be a human being? Even an animal will feel ashamed of such a person. There is no scope for getting swayed by sentiments but the observations made hereinabove and concern shown is only after conclusions are drawn as to what had happened to a young girl. The accused who has committed such a dastardly act, has made the life of a young girl hell, does not deserve any concession.”
The court also asked the chairman of the District Legal Services Authority to ascertain from the record as to whether the victim has been paid any compensation in accordance with the victim compensation scheme, and if not, maximum compensation permissible in accordance with the scheme should be paid to her.
