Noida: A special Pocso court in Noida has sentenced a Rajasthan man to 20 years in prison and imposed a cumulative fine of Rs 70,000 for sexually assaulting a minor girl. The 10-year-old case was proved in court on the sole testimony of the survivor, who remained consistent in her statements.The survivor’s father filed a complaint at the Jewar police station on July 27, 2016. He told the police that his daughter had left for her sewing class that evening but did not return. However, a neighbour had seen the 17-year-old girl with the man from Rajasthan, Dhirendra, and his landlord’s son. Police registered a case against them under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her into marriage). They rescued the girl within a week and arrested the men.The police later filed a chargesheet against Dhirendra under sections 363, 366 and 376D (gang rape) IPC with Section 5/6 Pocso Act on Jan 16, 2017. However, since the landlord’s son was a minor, his case was transferred to a juvenile justice board. The court framed charges against Dhirendra on Sept 15, 2017.The survivor said on July 25, 2016, her sewing classes were called off and she was on her way back home. While she was waiting for a bus, Dhirendra and his landlord’s son offered her a lift home in a white van. Instead of dropping her, they took her forcibly to Bharatpur, Rajasthan, threatening her with a knife and raped her.The prosecution presented seven witnesses. The defence argued that it did not present any independent witness and there was no medical report on record to prove sexual assault. Special public prosecutor JP Bhati countered that in cases of rape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault, corroboration of the fact by any other witness is rare because such offences are done in private and away from the viewing of others.The court agreed that there are no reasons to disbelieve the girl’s version. “Her statement proves rape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault but presumption also suggests that she would have been sexually assaulted by the accused,” said additional sessions judge Abhishek Pandey. “So, Section 29 of Pocso Act is relevant, which says that it shall be presumed that the charged person has committed the offences and the defence has failed to prove otherwise.” He declared the accused guilty of kidnapping and gang rape of the minor.
