NEW DELHI: A man who was earlier convicted of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl, was released on probation by a trial court in 2015. He has been arrested after the Delhi High Court overturned the decision to grant bail to the offender.
The Delhi High Court mentioned the trial court's decision as "grossly erred,". It had released the defendant after serving nine months and 26 days in prison prior to his conviction.
The high court announced its decision while admitting the state's appeal of the trial court's February 2015 decision to release the defendant on probation.
While taking a moderate stance and granting the guy the benefit of probation, the trial court had highlighted that it was his first offence in violation of the POCSO Act. However, a bench of justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal noted that Section 10 of the POCSO Act (the penalty for severe sexual assault) has a minimum term of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of seven years.
The minor victim had testified about the incident and named the accused. Nothing has been revealed, even during the victim's cross-examination, to demonstrate that the respondent did not commit the crime punishable by Section 10 of the POCSO Act, mentioned reports.
According to the bench, the respondent's sentence was modified from the period already served to a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 in light of the mitigating factors that the respondent (man) must care for the family and that beginning on February 11, 2015, the respondent is not involved in any other offence. The secretary of the DLSA North-West District will continue to pay the compensation amount of Rs 50,000 as ordered by the special court.
The convict was present in court, and the high court ordered the police to turn over custody of him to the superintendent of Tihar Jail so that they may serve his remaining term.
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