Sodomy case: Delhi court refuses to quash man's 3-yr jail term

A Delhi court has refused to set aside a three-year jail term awarded to a man for sodomising a 20-year-old boy, saying no lenient view should be taken in such incidents which leave an "indelible mark" on the victim and affect his psychology.
Additional Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar Gupta upheld the magisterial court order holding Kuldeep guilty under section 377 (unnatural offences/sodomy) of the IPC while dismissing his appeal.
"The appellant (convict) has done carnal intercourse with the victim/complainant. He has satisfied his lust. Such kind of incidents leave indelible mark for life in the mind of the victim. Such incidents even affect the psychological behaviour of the victim.

"The appellant cannot take shelter under premise that he is the sole bread earner of his family and his father is suffering from TB. To my mind, there is no ground to take lenient view. Trial court has rightly imposed the sentence on appellant. I do not find any merit in the appeal filed by the appellant. The appeal is dismissed," the judge said.
The court, while upholding the sentence of Kuldeep, relied on the testimony of the victim and said it was "cogent, reliable and trustworthy".
It also said the medical report of the victim established that carnal intercourse was committed with him and rejected the convict's contention that he was falsely implicated.

The victim had no motive to falsely implicate the convict, the court said.

According to the prosecution, on the midnight of April 24, 2011, the victim had gone out of his house in New Friends Colony in south-east Delhi in search of food when the convict forcibly took him to a room and committed unnatural sex.
Later the police arrested him on the complaint lodged by the victim and he was named in a charge sheet for the offence under section 377 of the IPC.
A magisterial court had in February last year sentenced Kuldeep to three years rigorous imprisonment.