Youth gets 5 yrs jail for sexually assaulting minor

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) A youth has been given a five-yearjail term for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl by aDelhi court which said the nature of offence committed by himdoes not demand any leniency. The court observed that the concept of welfare and wellbeing of children is basic for any civilised society and ithas a direct bearing on the state of health and well being ofthe entire community. It awarded the jail term to the 20-year-old resident ofnorth Delhi for offences of kidnapping under the IPC andsexual assault under the Protection of Children from SexualOffences (POCSO) Act. "It can be safely concluded that the accused committedsexual assault on the victim after taking her to an isolatedplace and thus, the accused stands convicted for the offence…," Additional Sessions Judge Gautam Manan said, adding thenature of offence committed by the youth does not demand anyleniency. The court also ordered that Rs 2 lakh be given to thechild as compensation to provide restorative and compensatoryjustice to her. "It has been time and again emphasised in legislation,international declarations as well as judicial pronouncementsthat children are a ‘supremely important national asset’ andfuture well being of the nation depends on how its childrengrow and develop," it said. According to the prosecution, the incident took place inNovember 2014, when the child was playing outside her houseand the youth, who was her distant relative, came on a bicycleand offered her a ride. The girl along with her four-year-old cousin sat on theyouth’s bicycle and he took them to a dark area where hesexually assaulted her, it said. Police said the girl was saved by a shopkeeper who droppedboth the children at their house and the youth fled the spot. During the trial, the youth claimed the girl was his nieceand he had not done anything wrong to her. PTI SKV ZMNDIP