15 April,2015 06:01 PM IST | | PTI
A 42-year-old man has been sent to prison for 10 years for sodomising a minor boy continuously for two years, with a city court observing that child abuse incidents are on the rise and the abusers were generally known to the victims
New Delhi: A 42-year-old man has been sent to prison for 10 years for sodomising a minor boy continuously for two years, with a city court observing that child abuse incidents are on the rise and the abusers were generally known to the victims.
The court sentenced Rajasthan native Rameshwar Dayal to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, saying he took advantage of the 17-year old boy due to his immaturity and continued to sexually abuse him by offering money and food articles and threatening to malign the minor amongst his school friends.
"The incidents of child abuse are on the rise in the society and it is generally seen that in most cases, offenders are people who are relatives of the child or persons known to the child. Therefore, to send a strong message to the society, the child abusers have to be dealt with strictly," Additional Sessions Judge Vikas Dhull said.
As per the police, Dayal sexually assaulted the boy around 30 times for two years from December 2010 to 2012-end. They were neighbours and the man used to meet him in a park where he would give him cold drinks and money, it said.
Police said that in December 2010, the man took the boy to his rented room and sodomised him. When the victim raised an alarm, Dayal threatened him and gave him some money.
Dayal used to blackmail the child that he would disclose about his sexual acts to his school friends and ruin his image, police said, adding that the man kept sodomising the boy till December 2012.
The court also awarded a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh to the boy for physical and mental trauma suffered by him and directed Delhi Legal Services Authority, Dwarka Courts, to disburse the amount to the victim who can use it as he wished.
"Although this court is conscious of the fact that no amount of money can wipe away the physical and mental trauma suffered by the child victim for a period of two years due to being subjected to sexual assault by the convict, but by providing compensation, some relief can be provided to the child victim in overcoming the trauma," the judge said.
Dayal was convicted for the offences of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation under the IPC.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the convict and said, if realised, Rs 15,000 be given to the victim.
