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Synopsis

A local court in Uttar Pradesh has awarded death sentence to two men, an auto mechanic and a tailor, in a minor girl's gang rape case. The court had convicted the accused namely Haleem and Rizwan on October 21 and the sentence was pronounced on November 2. 

Additional District and Session Judge/Rape and POCSO Court Pankaj Kumar Srivastava held the case in the category of rarest of the rare as the convicts not only gang-raped the minor but also intentionally caused such injuries that may make her physically & mentally handicapped.

The two men have been held guilty of offences punishable under Sections 5 (g)/6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Sections 363, 325, 326, and 308 of the Indian Penal Code. 

It was found that after the gang rape, the convicts had hurt the victim on her head, face, and legs and the injuries were such that her face had been deformed, she lost her left eye and her legs had been fractured. Thereafter, the convicts had left the victim abandoned near railway lines.

Court said, "It appears that the accused considered the victim an animal. The brutal cowardly act that the accused committed with the victim and the way they treated her afterward, no one even treats an animal in such manner".

Court added, "People treat animals with respect but in the present case, the accused did not even consider the victim worthy that other than rape, no such physical harm should be done to her so that her life would be ruined and she would be scared of looking at her own face in the mirror".

Therefore, considering the heinous nature of the crime, court awarded the punishment to the accused under Sections 5 (g)/6 of the POCSO Act (death penalty) instead of Section 376 DA of the IPC. Court noted that since the act of the accused was punishable under both the Sections but the penalty under Section 376DA, IPC was lesser, therefore, in view of Section 42, POCSO Act, the convicts deserved to be punished under the provision of the POCSO Act.

"It is a strange irony that in our country where Durga is worshiped in the form of Shakti, Maa Saraswati is worshiped for education and Maa Lakshmi is worshiped for wealth, in such a county, an incident like this happens. This puts a question mark on the whole society....If these cruel lustful persons are not punished severely in the society, then every parent will cry when a daughter is born to them and even if they somehow manage to bring her up, they will be in constant fear that at any moment such a lustful monster can make their daughter his victim," the court observed.