6yo rape survivor’s testimony helps court jail neighbour

Agra: A Pocso court in Agra on Thursday sentenced a 30-year-old man to 20 years in prison for raping a six-year-old girl in 2021. The child’s detailed testimony against the neighbour along with medical reports helped the court to convict the man. The man was also fined Rs 50,000.The six-year-old rape survivor told the court that on May 11, 2021, she was flying a small kite in front of her house at a village in Agra district when her neighbour took her to the terrace on the pretext of giving her a toffee. According to her statement, the man bit her on the cheek, assaulted her private parts and forced his genitals into her mouth.The traumatised child returned home crying and narrated the ordeal to her family. Her father, who was in Agra city to buy medicine for a family member, filed a complaint upon his return. An FIR was initially registered under section 354 (assault or criminal force against a woman) of IPC along with sections 7 and 8 (sexual assault - touching a child’s private parts) of Pocso Act.The neighbour was arrested in May 2021, and has been in jail since. Based on the survivor’s statement and medico-legal report by investigating officer, IPC section 354 and Pocso 7/8 were replaced with IPC section 376 (A & B) (commit rape on a woman under 12 years of age) and sections 5 (m) and 6 of Pocso Act (aggravated penetrative sexual assault). A charge sheet under the above sections was submitted in court on May 28. The girl’s statements were recorded under CrPC 161 and 164.Special prosecutor officer, Madhav Sharma, said, “The Pocso court judge, Dinesh Kumar Chaurasia, after reviewing all the evidence, medical reports and the survivor’s statements, sentenced the convict to a 20-year jail term.”