Delhi court finds juvenile guilty of rape, murder of 60-year-old woman
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has found a juvenile guilty of raping and murdering a 60-year-old woman in 2017, expressing shock that he inflicted iron rod blows on every body part of the deceased and "mercilessly inserted" it in her private parts.
A final order regarding the sentence will be passed on a later date.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat was hearing the case against the juvenile against whom a case was registered for the penal offences of rape and murder.
The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in 2018 concluded that the child in conflict with law (CCL), aged between 16 and 18 years, was required to be tried as an adult, following which the case was transferred to the present Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court.
According to the prosecution, the juvenile inflicted injuries on the woman with the iron rod and then attempted to rape her in the afternoon of November 11, 2017.
It said that a security guard, upon witnessing the crime, raised an alarm, following which the juvenile was apprehended.
In an order dated October 28, the court said, "It is a proved fact that the metallic rod recovered from the spot was inserted by CCL into the private parts of the deceased and due to that the deceased sustained fatal injuries inside her private parts."
It underlined that according to law, if any object (not being the penis of the accused) was inserted to any extent into the vagina, urethra or anus of a woman, then it amounted to rape.
"Thus, even if there is no clarification from the versions of prosecution witness 3 (security guard) regarding the insertion of the private part of CCL into the private part of the deceased, then also the act of inserting this metallic rod into the private parts of the deceased amounts to rape," the court said.
It noted the post-mortem report, according to which several external injuries were inflicted from the "bulky" metallic rod on "each and every body part" of the deceased, including her face, back of neck, back of head, face, chest, arm, elbow, wrist, head, forearm, finger, vagina, anus and knee.
The court said that if so many injuries were caused to the 60-year-old woman, then there was no doubt about the juvenile's intention to cause death.
It said, "Further, it is also considerable that the CCL did not just give blows of this rod on the body of the deceased, rather he mercilessly inserted this rod into the private parts of the deceased and caused fatal injuries inside her private parts."
The court said that the accused "inserted this metallic rod inside the private parts of the deceased so mercilessly that even the flesh/ body part separating vagina and anus also got torn."
Further, the doctor had also opined that the injuries were sufficient to cause death, the court said.
"In a nutshell, CCL is found to be in conflict with law for the offence of rape and murder punishable under Sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) of the IPC," the court said.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
