HC upheld jail term of man for sexually assaulting minor

The Delhi High Court has upheld a 10 year jail term of a man convicted for sexually assaulting a minor girl.

Justice Sunil Gaur dismissed an appeal of convict Praveen, challenging his sentence and also the fine of Rs 50,000 imposed on him.

Praveen had challenged the trial court's order saying he was falsely implicated in the case by the family of victim, a five-year-old girl.

The court, however, rejected the contentions of convict, saying: "No parent would stake the honour of their minor daughter and the family, to level such a serious accusation of rape against appellant, to settle the scores on account of such a trivial quarrel, particularly when their relations were cordial."

The court also held that the victim's testimony was consistent and stood amply corroborated from the evidence of her parents and the medical report.

On August 18, 2012, police had apprehended Praveen, the neighbour of the victim, after the girl's parents lodged an FIR alleging that he sexually assaulted their daughter after locking her up inside his room.

Pleading innocence, Pra veen said that on the day of the incident, he was in hospital follwing an accident and he was falsely implicated because he had objected to the defecation by the victim's siblings in front of his house which had led to a quarrel. But the court rejected his contention of convict, saying it could not be believed that he was implicated because he had objected to defecation by the victim's siblings in front of his house.

--IANS

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