Delhi court convicts two for raping 5-year-old girl in 2013; arguments on quantum of sentence on 30 January

New Delhi: A POCSO court convicted two men on Saturday for raping a five-year-old girl in east Delhi in 2013, saying the case had shaken the collective conscience of society. [caption id=“attachment_5247881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra convicted Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar in the case, saying that the child experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality. Shah and Kumar had raped the minor at Gandhi Nagar area and shoved objects in her private parts on 15 April, 2013. They had fled after committing the crime and leaving the girl at Shah’s room after believing her to be dead. The child was rescued 40 hours later on April 17, 2013. “Collective conscience of the society shaken. In our society, minor girls are worshipped as goddess,” the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court said. “The child, who was just 5 years old, experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality.” The father of the survivor expressed satisfaction on finally getting justice for his daughter. “Though the trial should have been completed in two years, we are happy we got justice after six years,” he said. The court fixed 30 January for arguments on quantum of sentence. Shah and Kumar were arrested by Delhi Police separately from Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga in Bihar respectively in 2013. The charge sheet was filed on  24 May that year and charges were framed by the court on 11 July. It took more than five years to complete the recording of the statement of 57 prosecution witnesses in the POCSO court. Some media persons were on Saturday allegedly assaulted by one of the convicts. Shah allegedly struck some senior reporters while he was being taken out of the courtroom. The issue was brought to the notice of Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra, who asked one of the senior woman reporters to give a written complaint to the Station House Officer. The judge then sent her for medical examination.