POCSO: Man who raped 7-year-old girl given death penalty by Punjab court

A 27-year-old man who was found guilty of rape of a 7-year-old girl was recently sentenced to death by a special court in Punjab under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act). .Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) at Kapurthala Rajwinder Kaur said that aside from committing sexual assault, the accused also inserted a wooden stick into the vagina of the survivor, which made the offence more heinous. Thus, the case fell within the ambit of 'rarest of rare,' warranting death penalty, the Court said."After Committing of penetrative sexual assault, the second crime committed by convict of inserting the wooden stick into fragile vagina of victim resulting into fatal injuries which were declared as dagerous to life makes the offence more heinous, which itself is sufficient to prove that convict is guilty of such a diabolic act. Thus, the barbaric and horrific act of the convict which completely incapacitated the child to enjoy her woman hood is sufficient to hold that age of the accused, family background and non criminal antecedent of convict cannot be said to be mitigating circumstances," the judgment stated..The accused, Mukesh Kumar, was a neighbour of the survivor. According to the prosecution, the accused on the pretext of buying the survivor a packet of biscuits, took her to a jhuggi owned by one of the neighbours and raped her. He then inserted a wooden stick into her private parts, resulting in the fracture of her leg, and left her bleeding.She was eventually discovered by her father and a case came to be registered for offences under Sections 376AB (punishment for rape on woman under twelve years of age) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of POCSO Act.The survivor was forced to undergo as many as three surgeries leading to the removal of her uterus. Further, the doctors opined that she may require further surgeries and constant care and monitoring. She continues to carry a urine bag till today, with the possibility of having to carry it for life..According to the medical report, there was presence of semen of the accused in the vagina of the survivor. The blood covered wooden stick was also recovered by the police and the blood on the stick matched with the blood of the survivor. Further, the testimony of the victim was corroborated by medical evidence and statements of prosecution witnesses..After hearing the parties, the Court found the accused guilty of rape of a minor, attempt to murder and offences under the POCSO Act, noting that “he is the accused Mukesh Kumar who is responsible for committing rape upon minor girl, and thereafter in order to gave another colour to the incident inserted wooden stick into vagina of victim and himself left the place leaving victim there to die who was bleeding profusely due to his barbaric, inhuman notorious acts.”.While deciding the sentencing of the accused on the same day, the Court found that due to the fact that the accused physically incapacitated the child, made her mentally ill by causing impairment and rendered her unable to perform regular tasks, the death penalty was required to be given. Finding that the offence fell under the ambit of 'rarest of rare cases' as postulated by the Supreme Court in Bachan Singh v. Union of India, the Court noted,"The diabolic manner in which crime was committed leaves one startled as to the pervert mental state of the inflictor. On top of it, in order to camouflage the crime and in order to kill, after causing grievous hurt, leaving the minor girl in pool of blood left the spot."However, the execution of the death sentence “shall be subject to confirmation by the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh,” the order stated..The accused was also directed to pay compensation of ₹2 lakh, out of which ₹1 lakh would be given to the survivor. Separately, given the physical and mental trauma undergone by the survivor, and in order to provide restorative and compensatory justice to her, the Court awarded a compensation of ₹8 lakh to her, which will be released once she attains 18 years of age..Additional Public Prosecutor Anil Kumar appeared for the State. Advocate Rajiv Puri appeared for the complainant. Advocate Vikas Uppal, legal aid counsel, appeared for the accused..[Read Judgment].[Read Sentencing Order]