Man gets 10 yrs jail for raping pregnant woman

New Delhi, Jul 17: A 28-year-old man has been sent to 10 years in jail by a Delhi court for illegally confining a girl and repeatedly raping her for several months even after knowing she was pregnant.

Additional Sessions Judge Sarita Birbal awarded the jail term to Munna, a native of Bihar, saying it was established that he had had sexual intercourse with the 19-year-old girl for five to six months without her consent.

"Munna has been held guilty under section 376(2)(e) (raping a woman knowing her to be pregnant) of the IPC. The girl was pregnant and she was living with Munna for a long time and despite that he raped her. It is not the case that he was not aware of it," the judge said.

The court also convicted him for offences of wrongfully confining the victim and threatening to kill her. The court rejected Munna's contention that he never raped the girl, saying "I am not inclined to agree with Munna that he established physical relations with the girl with her consent.

Absence of alarm in similar circumstances is not necessary indicative of consent on the part of the girl. Court cannot overlook the situation in which she was placed."

The court, however, said the prosecution had failed to prove that an attempt was made by the accused to sell the girl and acquitted him of that charge. It freed co-accused Suman Kumar, a resident of Assam, of all the charges.

The court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Munna, said of this, Rs 3,000 should be given to the girl as compensation.

It directed Delhi Legal Service Authority to determine and award adequate compensation to the victim as per the provision of the CrPC.

The prosecution said a complaint was made to the police by Kumar on April 1, 2011 alleging that Munna had kept a girl in his house in Shastri Park area of East Delhi.

When the cops reached the house, they found the victim and the man present. The girl told the police that she had come to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh and had met Suman and Munna at Old Delhi Railway Station when they had assured her of getting a job.

Munna then took her to several places, including Panipat, Noida and Delhi, and kept her confined for several months and also repeatedly raped her, she told the police.

She also said that Munna had asked Suman to keep a watch on her and on April 1, 2011, when Munna again tried to rape her, she cried and was saved by Suman. Thereafter, Suman informed the police and she was rescued.

PTI