Contractor awarded 7-year term for rape

Victim to get compensation of ₹4 lakh

A Delhi court has sentenced a contractor to seven years’ imprisonment for raping a 20-year-old woman in east Delhi in 2014.

“The convict is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years and a fine of ₹25,000,” the court said. It also awarded a compensation of ₹4 lakh to the victim. The court asked the Delhi State Legal Services Authority to pay the compensation to the victim as the convict is not in a position to pay it.

‘Ghastly act’

The prosecution had said that Mohammed Javed sexually assaulted the woman at her home, where he had gone to inspect construction work for which the woman had given him a contract.

“Rape is a gruesome, abhorring and ghastly act where [a] man lowers himself to a baffling extent for the sole purpose of achieving gratification of his carnal desire. It leaves a permanent scar on the personality of the woman, inhibiting growth and development,” Additional Sessions Judge Anurag Sain in his order.

“It instils a feeling of fear, insecurity, a brooding sense of shame and guilt for no fault of the woman. Rape is one of the most barbaric and heinous crime. It is a devastating moment in the life of the prosecutrix, which cannot be repaired and the loss cannot be forgotten or forgiven,” he added.

The woman had stated in the complaint lodged by her on December 29, 2014, that Javed had escaped from her home after the rape when her mother came looking for her.

In his defence, Javed had said it was a false case.