New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) A Delhi court has said it is “very scary” to live in a society where children are unsafe and “preyed on” by people who are like “vultures” as it sentenced a man to rigorous life imprisonment for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl.

Additional sessions judge Babita Puniya was hearing the arguments on sentencing against the 45-year-old man convicted under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) rape provisions.

“It is very scary that we live in a society where children are not safe and people like the convict keep an eye on them like vultures to quench their lust,” the court said.

The prosecution alleged the man raped the girl repeatedly for over a year till January 2025 and she gave birth in February.

In an order dated April 16, the court said, “The convict had preyed upon an innocent and vulnerable girl child to quench his lust. He repeatedly made the victim the object of his lust and made her pregnant, and she had to go through the labour pains at the age of innocence.” The court observed the child too was a victim of the crime and considered factors of repeated rape, age gap between the survivor and the accused aside from the fact that he lured her with gifts, food and motorcycle rides.

While sentencing the convict to rigorous life imprisonment, the court rejected his plea for leniency on the ground of absence of external injuries and said he had “designedly lured the victim to accompany him to his house so that he could pounce upon her”.

The order added, “He had committed rape over a period of time during which he had ample opportunity to reconsider his actions and come to his senses. Rape is in itself a violent crime, which gives scars not only to the body but also to the mind and soul of the victim and the mere fact that there were no additional physical injuries does not make it a mitigating factor.” The convict being illiterate, the order said, was not a mitigating factor.

“Child rape is not only legally punishable but is morally repugnant. Just because the convict has not attended the school, the heinous crime he committed cannot be justified. Further, there is nothing on record to suggest that his illiteracy influenced him to commit the offence,” it added.

Awarding the survivor a Rs 19.5 lakh compensation, the court said though her sufferings couldn’t be compensated in monetary terms, the financial assistance would enable her to educate herself to achieve some level of independence.

While the FIR in the case was registered in March, the convict was convicted on April 15 and sentenced the following day by the fast-track court. PTI MNR MNR AMK AMK