Virendra Gahwai, Bilaspur. While hearing the case of rape of a minor in Jashpur district 5 years ago, Bilaspur High Court has rejected the appeal of the accused. The court has said that in the case of rape, the decision to file a report is taken after a lot of thought. In such a situation, the accused cannot be given any relaxation in his punishment on the basis of delay in filing the case.
According to the information, the 14-year-old victim living in Jashpur district was alone at home on the night of 24 December 2018, her parents had gone to church, at night the 40-year-old accused living in the village came and forcefully took her to Paravat and raped her. The accused threatened to kill her by poisoning her if she told anyone about the incident. After this, the accused had sex with her several times. In April 2019, when the victim’s mother inquired about her pale face, the victim told her mother about her ordeal. Here, when the girl’s menstruation stopped, the accused told her that he gave her a pill to abort the pregnancy. When the mother came to know about it, she filed a report in the police station on 28 April 2019. After this, the police arrested the accused.
The accused was sentenced to 20 years in prison
It is noteworthy that the court has sentenced the accused to 20 years of imprisonment under the POCSO Act as the victim was a minor. Against which she had appealed in the High Court. In which the main basis for the delay in filing the FIR was the demand to cancel the sentence. The court said in its order after the hearing that there was a slight delay in filing the FIR in the case. However, it is clear from the evidence in the case that the appellant repeatedly sexually assaulted the minor. The court further said that when a woman is raped, many aspects are discussed and considered before filing a report. The court considered the victim’s statement sufficient and rejected the accused’s appeal and kept the lower court’s order intact.
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