Man jailed for 6 months for molesting mentally challenged girl

A man who molested a mentally challenged girl here eight years ago has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Delhi court, which reduced the one year jail term awarded to him earlier.
Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain took a lenient view towards Delhi resident Raj Kumar and modified the jail term of one year awarded by a magistrate to six months, saying he has been facing agony of trial for the past eight years.
"No doubt, appellant (Raj) was found involved in the offence of outraging modesty of a mentally challenged girl, but simultaneously it is also true that he has been facing the agony of trial for the last more than eight years and he has no criminal antecedents, thus I am of the view that appellant deserves some leniency.

"Accordingly, I hereby reduce the sentence of rigorous imprisonment of one year to six months," the judge said while deciding Raj's plea.
Raj had approached the sessions court challenging his conviction and sentence by the magisterial court, saying it had failed to appreciate that the victim did not utter even a single word against him.
The court rejected his contention saying during the trial the victim was brought as a witness by the prosecution and after putting certain questions to her, the magistrate felt that she was unable to understand the question and thus held that she was not a competent witness to depose.

"Report of IHBAS is on the record wherein it is stated that victim was a patient of psychosis and she required hospitalisation for few more weeks....
"In these circumstances, non-examination of victim is not helpful to the appellant in any manner. Since, the victim was not of sound mind, victim was unable to give her consent," the court said.
According to police, the incident took place in October 2004 when two constables deployed at Daryaganj area were informed by a passerby at night that two persons were doing obscene act with a girl in bushes behind Samta Sthal.