Court sentences 49-yr-old man to 10 years jail in child marriage, rape case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday sentenced a 49-year-old man to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for committing rape upon a 13-year-old girl after forcing her into marriage.

Special Judge (POCSO Court) Ankit Mehta awarded a compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh to the victim, who was raped when she was 13-year-old and forced into a marriage by circumstances and against her will.

The court had on April 30 this year convicted the accused, Vipin Chaudhury, a resident of Bihar, under Section 376 (2) (i) and (n) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 and Section 9/10 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

Besides the prison term, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the accused.

The court said the prosecution had established that the child was a victim of circumstances and was forced into marriage by her maternal grandmother, who was the only one in her family to sustain the living.

As per the victim’s statement, she was the only child in the family with no parents and had left studies when she was staying at her maternal grandmother’s residence where she was considered a ‘liability’.

Her father had deserted the family while her mother was mentally challenged and not living with her.

Since her grandmother was ailing, she had requested the Sarpanch and villagers to marry her off to the accused in case of her death. It was through a middle-woman who had informed the victim’s grandmother that the accused had a wife who had passed away and was earning a handsome amount.

“After the death of my grandmother, it was against my will that the villagers forced me to marry the accused,” she had deposed. The accused married her on February 23, 2017 in Bihar when she was 13 years of age which was established by the bone test.

In her statement, the victim said that in accused’s village she came to know about his previous two marriages. The first wife who had passed away had two teenage daughters who were living with accused’s mother while the second wife had left him.

“During first two months after the accused got me to his village, he used to beat me mercilessly and force himself upon me which I resented,” the victim claimed.

The accused shifted her to Delhi where he continued to subject the victim to torture for sexual relationship.

The merciless beating of the victim forced Delhi residents to inform police which initiated the process of registration of FIR and probe the incident.

The Delhi Legal Service Authority (DLSA) appointed advocate Virender Verma to provide legal support to the victim.

Reacting to the judgment, lawyer, activist and founder of Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) Bhuwan Ribhu said, "This is a landmark and welcome judgement, once again establishing that child marriage leads to child rape. I hope this acts as a precedent. By acting decisively against child marriage, we can end it by 2030. While the government aims to make India a developed country, it can only happen by ensuring access to free education till 18 years of age and eliminating child marriage.”