Youth gets 10-year jail for raping minor girl

A youth has been sentenced to ten years in jail for raping a seven-year-old girl in 2012 by a Delhi court, which relied on the statement of the victim and forensic evidence.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajneesh Kumar Gupta also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on 24-year-old Surender Gupta, a resident of Uttar Pradesh.
"Keeping in view the aforesaid submissions and the facts and circumstances of the case and the fact that prosecutrix (girl) was about seven years of age at the time of incident, convict (Gupta) is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for ten years and a fine of Rs 5,000....," the Judge said.

The court convicted Gupta while relying on the testimonies of the victim and her mother and also on the medical and DNA tests reports of the minor girl and the accused.
According to the police, a complaint was lodged on January 18, 2012 by the victim's mother that her daughter was raped by Gupta, who was one of her neighbours.
The girl's mother deposed before the court that her daughter was playing outside the house when Gupta came and took her with him on the pretext of giving toffee.

She said when her daughter did not come back after several hours, she went to Gupta's house and heard the screams of her daughter from inside.

After she knocked at the door, Gupta opened it and ran away from the spot.
The victim also testified in the court that Gupta, who was arrested on January 21, 2012, had raped her in his house.
During the trial, Gupta denied the allegations levelled against him and his lawyer claimed that his client was falsely implicated in the case.
The defence counsel claimed that the girl's statement was not reliable as she was "tutored" and has deposed at the instance of her mother who has an enmity with Gupta.
The court, however, convicted Gupta saying testimony of the girl's mother corroborates the deposition of the victim.