Mumbai court sentences auto driver to 10 years RI for raping 62-year-old woman

Mumbai, Dec 2 (PTI) A court here has sentenced an autorickshaw driver to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a 62-year-old woman, after rejecting his defence that they were in a consensual physical relationship.

Additional sessions judge (Dindoshi Court) S M Agarkar, on Monday, held the accused guilty of charges under section 376 (rape) and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the prosecution, the accused waylaid the woman while she was on her way to work in Borivali on September 21, 2018, and posed as a friend of her son.

The accused misled the woman by claiming that people had surrounded her son in a hotel, claiming he was attempting to marry a Muslim girl.

The accused took the woman in his autorickshaw under the pretext of taking her to her son, but instead took her to a secluded spot, where he threatened her at knifepoint, robbed and sexually assaulted her.

The police alleged that the accused robbed the sexagenarian of gold earrings worth Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000 cash, which she was carrying for her granddaughter's school fees.

Following the assault, the woman managed to reach a police chowky and lodged a complaint. She underwent treatment at a hospital for 11 days.

The police had initially registered the first information report for robbery and cheating, but the rape charge was added following a supplementary statement by the victim days later.

The defence argued that the accused and the victim had been in a consensual physical relationship since 2012, and that she had filed a false complaint after he tried to end the affair.

However, upon scrutiny of evidence and in light of facts, the court ruled that the "defence of the accused does not appear plausible".

It noted that there were no medical papers in the prescribed form to support sexual assault on the victim, but it accepted her testimony as "substantial evidence" and said that the accused also did not dispute the incident.

The court held that the delay in filing the complaint is not material, as in "Indian culture, women and family members hesitate to lodge police complaints of such heinous offences under the fear of stigma".

The judge, while sentencing the accused, stated that our criminal system is a combination of deterrence and reformation.

"Looking to the gravity of the offence, the sentence is already enhanced to not less than 10 years... this being the first offence of the accused, I am of the view that the minimum sentence provided under the act for rape would meet the ends of justice," the court said.

It also directed the District Legal Services Authority, Mumbai (DLSA) to assess and pay reasonable and appropriate compensation to the victim under the Criminal Procedure Code, considering her age, mental condition and the severity of the offence, for her rehabilitation. PTI AVI ARU