Man sentenced to life for raping deaf-mute girl

A special court for POCSO cases at Bharuch in Gujarat has sentenced a man to life imprisonment till death for raping a hearing-and-speech impaired girl.

Ashok Vasava, 34, was convicted under IPC section 376 (rape) as well as under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act Thursday.

Public prosecutor R J Desai said Vasava, father of three children, raped an 11-year-old girl who was deaf and mute at Jhagadiya in Bharuch district on December 6, 2016, when she stepped out of her house to answer nature's call.

While the girl's testimony could not be recorded, the prosecution examined nine other witnesses including her mother and also produced medical evidence, Desai said.

Judge S V Vyas, in his order, said to show leniency to the accused who showed no remorse "after exhibiting extreme depraved mentality" would be a "travesty of justice".

The court said Vasava would serve prison sentence till his death (as against ordinary life sentence where the convict can be released after 14 years) considering that he raped a girl who could not even communicate.