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Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau said the case "where the five-month-old girl was subjected to unwanted physical contact by a perverted male adult, was a glaring example of the growing menace of sexual abuse of young children."
The court sent north-west Delhi resident Sonu to jail for raping the infant, who was also his distant relative.
"The infant aged five months in the case was a soft and vulnerable target. Sonu has taken advantage of a helpless and defenceless child who could not even try to escape or express herself and was an easy and vulnerable prey.
"She must have undergone immense physical pain and agony when the offence was committed. In spite of the tender age of the infant, the convict went on to commit the ghastly, abominable, inhuman and barbaric act of rape, violating the person of the infant and giving a lifelong trauma to her family," said the court.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Sonu and stipulated that, if recovered, the amount should be paid to the infant`s mother as compensation. It said the extent of brutality which the convict inflicted upon the child was evident from medical evidence.
According to the prosecution, Sonu, in June last year, came to the house of infant`s maternal grandmother and took her away with him saying he would leave her at her own house with her mother. .
After an hour, he left a bitterly crying child in custody of her grandmother as her mother had gone to market at that time, police said.
When the child`s mother came and took her in lap, she noticed that the infant was crying and bleeding profusely.
It said that the woman immediately went to Sonu`s house where he confessed his crime and sought forgiveness.
In order to protect the honour of the girl child, the family members did not raise an alarm and took the infant to a hospital next day when her condition started deteriorating.
The doctors, after they came to know of the incident, informed the police which registered the case against Sonu.
Sonu sought leniency on the ground that he was working as labourer and the only helping hand of his family.
The court, however, refused to show any leniency to him and said, "The ghastly and inhuman act of Sonu cannot be condoned and a substantive, stern sentence is required to be imposed upon him so that it is not only in commensuration with the gravity of the crime but also serves as an example for the others."
