Supreme Court sentences man to 30 years in jail for rape of 7-year-old girl in temple

The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced a man to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old girl in a temple [Bhaggi vs State of Madhya Pradesh].A bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal added that the convict would also be liable to pay a fine of ₹1 lakh for his crime.The Court noted that the crime was barbaric and would continue to haunt the survivor on every temple visit."The petitioner-convict took the victim to a temple, unmindful of the holiness of the place disrobed her and himself and then committed the crime. We have no hesitation to hold that the fact he had not done it brutally will not make its commission non-barbaric," the Court observed..The incident in question took place in 2018. A criminal complaint was filed by the grandmother of the survivor and the accused man, then 40 years of age, was eventually convicted by a trial court and sentenced to death.The Madhya Pradesh High Court later upheld the conviction, but commuted the sentence to life imprisonment for the remainder of the man's natural life.This verdict was challenged by the convict before the Supreme Court, which has now upheld the conviction although it modified the sentence.Referring to the rape survivor's ordeal, the Court added,“The evidence would reveal that unmindful of the holiness of the place he disrobed her and himself and raped her. When such an act was done by the petitioner, who was then aged 40 years and X who was then aged only 7 years and ... blood was found oozing from the private parts of the disrobed child.”.The Court also noted that the High Court had not imposed separate sentences for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) or ordered the payment of a fine towards the rehabilitation of the survivor."In terms of the provisions under Section 376 AB, IPC when a sentence of imprisonment for a term not less than 20 years which may extend upto life imprisonment is imposed, the convict is also liable to suffer a sentence of fine which shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim," the Court explained. Therefore, the Court imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh to be payable by the convict..The appeal was partly allowed on these terms..Advocates K Sarada Devi, R Vijay Nandan Reddy, and V Krishna Swaroop appeared for the convict.Deputy Advocate General Ankita Chaudhary with advocates Mrinal Gopal Elker, Abhimanyu Singh, Abhijeet Pandove, Saurabh Singh, Divyansh Singh, Aarushi Gupta, and Asosh Rawat appeared for the Madhya Pradesh government..[Read order]