New Delhi: The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court lamented that the legislature had not learned any lesson from the horrors of Nirbhaya as juveniles in this country are still being treated “too leniently”. The court made this observation, while dismissing an appeal of a rape offender, who broke out of a juvenile home with seven others.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar, during the hearing, observed, "…this court is once again at pains to observe that juveniles in this country are being treated rather too leniently, and that the legislature, to the utter misfortune of victims of such crimes, has still not learnt any lessons from the horrors of Nirbhaya…"
In 2019, the accused approached the High Court after sessions court order sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment under IPC section 376 (2) and a concurrent 10-year sentence under Pocso Act.
The man was accused of raping a 4-year-old daughter of his father's tenant in December 2017. Subsequently, he was arrested and sent to juvenile home from where he broke out in 2019, while his case was still on in HC.
"Looking at the overwhelming medical evidence in the present case, it does not take an expert to see as to how demonic the appellant's conduct was while he was juvenile, and his mindset can also be gathered from the fact that he has also absconded from the observation home, and presently is at large, probably lurking in some dark corner of the street, for yet another prey, and there is nobody to stop him," Justice Abhyankar observed.
"And, although such voices are being raised time and again by the Constitutional Courts of this country, to the utter dismay of the victims, they have not been able to make any impact on the legislature even after a decade of Nirbhaya which took place in 2012," he added.