Man rapes infant, Indian court reduces life sentence to 10 years, says original punishment was 'harsh and excessive'

An Indian court has reduced the sentence of a man - accused of raping a one-and-a-half-year-old girl - from life imprisonment to 10 years in jail saying that the original punishment was "harsh and excessive".

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court gave the judgement in the case in which the man was convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

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The man was convicted in 2013 for raping the infant and had received life sentence by a court. However he appealed against the judgement to the High court.

How the incident unfolded?

The incident occurred when the man forcefully entered the home of the child when there was no "male head" of the family present. He sexually assaulted the baby.

The mothers of the child protested when the man entered the house and went out to collect the neighbours when she returned, she found the man sexually assaulting the child. The man then allegedly grabbed the mother's hand and tried to rape her as well but her screaming led him to flee the scene.

10 years in jail would meet the ends of justice?

After going through all the evidences and arguments, the Nagpur bench declared, "On careful scrutiny of the prosecution evidence, we are of the view that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt".

The court also rejected the accused's lawyer's argument that there was no evidence of penetrative sexual assault.

"It can be said that the appellant has committed penetrative sexual assault on the victim and the said fact is corroborated by the medical evidence," the court said.

But "we find that the sentence imposed on the appellant is harsh and excessive. In the facts of the present case, we are of the opinion that a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment would meet the ends of justice," it added.

(With inputs from agencies)