Noida man gets 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment for rape of mute woman in 2023

Noida: A fast-track court on Thursday sentenced a man from Bihar to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000 for the rape of a 20-year-old mute woman with a mental health condition in 2023.The man was caught red-handed by the girl's mother while committing the crime. Taking note of the girl's health condition, judge Priyanka Singh said the entire fine amount will be given to her. The court also recommended additional compensation under Section 357A (3) of the CrPC, directing the district legal services authority to decide an amount under the compensation scheme. The Section empowers trial courts to recommend compensation to rape survivors for rehabilitation.An FIR in the case was registered at Sector 113 police station by the girl's mother on July 30, 2023. A chargesheet was filed on Oct 13, 2023, and it was transferred to the sessions court on April 5, 2024. The court framed charges under Section 376 IPC (rape) on June 7.The prosecution argued that the girl's mother was an eyewitness to the incident and testified that the accused forcibly took the girl to a nearby slum and raped her. Prosecution counsel Shilpi Baduriya said that they established that the girl was unable to resist."The doctor confirmed the presence of blood in the girl's private parts, while the FSL reports of the girl and the accused revealed the presence of the male-specific allele in the girl's clothes, establishing the guilt of the accused," she argued."An accused cannot be acquitted or convicted based on a single DNA report. But the FSL report supports the prosecution's case," the court noted. The judge said since the girl is mute and has a mental health condition, the accused is convicted of rape under IPC Section 376(2)(1).