Brutal Gudiya Rape Case: Candle, Hair Oil Bottle Were Shoved Into 5-Year-Old’s Private Parts

New Delhi:

A POCSO court convicted two men on Saturday for raping a five-year-old girl in east Delhi in 2013, saying the case had shaken the collective conscience of the society. Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra convicted Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar in the case, saying that the child experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality.

"Collective conscience of the society shaken. In our society, minor girls are worshipped as goddess," the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court said. "The child, who was just 5 years old, experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality."

The father of the victim expressed satisfaction on finally getting justice for his daughter.

"Though the trial should have been completed in two years, we are happy we got justice after six years," he said.

The court fixed January 30 for arguments on quantum of sentence.

What is the 2013 Gudiya case?

• Shah and Kumar had raped the girl at Gandhi Nagar area and shoved objects in her private parts on April 15, 2013.
• They had fled after committing the crime and leaving the girl at Shah's room after believing her to be dead.  The child was rescued 40 hours later on April 17, 2013.
• Shah and Kumar were arrested by Delhi police separately from Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga in Bihar respectively in 2013.
• The charge sheet was filed on May 24 that year and charges were framed by the court on July 11.
• It took more than five years to complete the recording of the statement of 57 prosecution witnesses in the POCSO court. 

Why it shook the nation?

• The police had said some foreign material -- three pieces of a candle and one hair oil bottle -- were taken out from the body of the victim, which was also proved by doctors during recording of their statements in the court.
• As the anger over the gruesome rape spilled onto the capital's streets, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that collective efforts were needed to root out such “depravity” from society.
• “The gruesome assault on a little child a few days back reminds us of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society,” Singh had said.
• The city had witnessed outraged students and women staging demonstrations at India Gate, Police Headquarters and near the residences of the then Prime Minister Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
• Placard-wielding protesters had also gathered at AIIMS, where the girl was undergoing treatment, and burnt the effigy of then Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, demanding his sacking.
• The court had framed charges of raping a minor, unnatural offence, kidnapping, attempt to murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful confinement with common intention under the IPC against the two accused.
• It had also framed charges of aggravated sexual assault under the POCSO Act which entails a maximum punishment of life term.
• Charges of rape and unnatural offence were also slapped on the two accused by the court as these two sections were not invoked by the police in its charge sheet.

(With PTI inputs)

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