A Delhi court has sentenced a man to 27 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping and impregnating a 14-year-old girl in 2020 here after drugging her, as the bench observed it would be difficult for the survivor to recover from the crime.

The court awarded Rs 15 lakh compensation to the survivor, noting that monetary compensation for the "redressal of wrong" was her fundamental right.

Additional Sessions Judge Preeti Parewa was hearing arguments on the sentencing of the 23-year-old man, who had been convicted under Section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc. with intent to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Additional Public Prosecutor Vineet Dahiya sought the maximum punishment for the convict, saying the man, who was the survivor's relative, had committed a heinous act.

In the conviction order, the court said the testimonies of prosecution witnesses conclusively proved that the man had laced the survivor's food and water with a "stupefying, intoxicating or unwholesome" drug and sexually assaulted her.

"The act of the convict is bound to have serious consequences upon the mental and physical health of the victim from which it would be very difficult to recover and lead a normal life," the verdict stated.

The man was accordingly sentenced to 20 years RI under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and 7 years RI under Section 328 of the IPC.

The aim of granting the survivor compensation, the court noted, was to "alleviate her pain and sufferings", apart from restoring the dignity of her family.

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