In 2013, just a few months after Nirbhaya, a heartbreaking incident shook the soul of humanity. A gruesome incident of gang-rape of a 5-year-old girl, Gudiya, surfaced that – IF WE DESERVE TO BE CALLED CIVILIZED SOCIETY?
In the horrific incident at Gandhi Nagar on April 15, 2013, the convicts shoved objects in the 5-year-old victim’s private parts and abandoned her in a room, believing she was dead. The child was rescued 40 hours later on April 17, 2013.
And now almost after 7 years, two men guilty of kidnapping and brutally raping a five-year-old girl in Delhi in 2013. Recently, the POCSO court while announcing the judgment on January 30, said,
“In our society, the minor girls are worshipped as a goddess on certain occasions but in the present case the victim child had experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality.
The crime against the victim was committed in a most grotesque and revolting manner and the collective conscience of the community was shaken.”
The accused – Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar fled the crime scene after raping Gudiya. They shoved a candle and bottle inside her private parts, leaving her at Manoj Shah’s room, after believing that the five-year-old to be dead. Later, the accused were arrested by Delhi police separately from Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga in Bihar in 2013.
Though the Delhi court on Thursday sentenced these two monsters to 20 years in jail along with Rs 11 lakh as compensation to the survivor, who was given the name Gudiya’ after the incident, many have come forward to express their disappointment with the quantum of punishment.
According to a report published in India Today, Advocate HS Phoolka, appearing for the Gudiya will appeal against the order in the high court and will seek life imprisonment for the convicts. Meanwhile, Gudiya’s father demanded the death penalty for the convicts. With tears in his eyes, the father said,
“My daughter is still suffering. She has undergone seven surgeries.”
While sharing the disappointment about the punishment, the Gudiya’s uncle, said:
“We are disappointed because we thought that maximum punishment would be life imprisonment as prescribed under law. However, Shah and Kumar were given just 20 years, despite the fact that there was no remorse on their faces. There was no fear on Shah’s face and he walked into the court as if he is some revolutionary. We will appeal against the sentence in the high court and will seek life imprisonment for the perpetrators.”
Sampurna Behura, director (legal) at Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), which gave legal, financial and medical support to the rape survivor, said,
“We are highly disappointed on the quantum of punishment because a five-year-old girl, for no fault of hers was brutally assaulted and left to die and had to undergo six major surgeries. Giving a mere 20 years of punishment is not justice but rather leniency towards the convicts. The very purpose of POCSO Act has been defeated as by not giving life imprisonment the judgement has become accused centric,not victim-centric.”
Meanwhile, one of the accused father expressed relief on the punishment and said he will not challenge the judgment in the higher court and said:
“I don’t know what my son did. We are relieved that he will be out after spending 13 more years in jail,”
At IFORHER, we are extremely heartbroken with how these monsters made a 5-year-old prey to their sex greed. The thought of these monsters to be out in 13 years to prey on other kids makes us highly disappointed with the punishment.
We stand tall with the parents of Gudiya and support the death penalty for these monsters before any more Gudiya becomes the victim of any such sex-deprived monsters.
As a part of IFORHER’s #FightAgainstRape, we would love to hear your thoughts on What would be the appropriate punishment for Gudiya’s rape convicts? You can share your thoughts here.
