A court here has sentenced a man to 12 years rigorous imprisonment for raping an 80-year-old bed-ridden woman in 2022, saying the incident was a "blow to social and moral values".

Noting the testimony of the victim that she pleaded with the 30-year-old convict with folded hands asking him to spare her, the court observed the perpetrator committed the act only to satisfy his lust for sex.

Additional Sessions Judge Aanchal of Tis Hazari district courts was hearing the case against Ankit alias Mogli, who was convicted of the penal offences of rape, house trespass, theft and voluntarily causing hurt.

According to the prosecution, Ankit entered the house of the victim, who was confined to bed because of non-functional lower limbs. He then beat her, raped her repeatedly, and escaped after stealing her mobile, it said.

"In her detailed testimony, the victim deposed that despite the fact she kept on folding her hands before the convict, he raped her rotating her legs from bed to the wall making a 90-degree angle and just after the incident when she was medically examined, bruises were found present over her face, hand and chest," the court said in its verdict passed last month.

"Certainly, rape is one of the most heinous crimes which degrades and defiles the soul of the victim. It shatters the personality and self-confidence of the victim but the offence here has also given a blow to the social and moral values," it added.

The court said there was no evidence to show that the offence was committed on the spur of the moment or out of any compulsion. Instead, the facts of the case show that the convict committed the crime "only to satisfy his lust for sex where the victim was used as a means." It sentenced him to 12 years rigorous imprisonment for the offence of rape after considering the mitigating and aggravating factors, the convict’s age, family responsibility and his prospects of getting reformed.

The court also sentenced him to five years imprisonment for house trespass, one year for committing theft and six months for causing hurt.

The sentences will run concurrently, it said.

The court also referred the case to the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLA) for determining appropriate compensation for the victim.

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