HIV-positive Pune man who raped minor gets 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment
On November 25, 2019, a five-year-old girl from Pune was raped by a 24-year-old HIV-positive man. The incident occurred when the girl visited a shop in the village to purchase snacks. The accused, also from the same village, approached her with guavas and sexually assaulted her. The victim was barely six years old at the time of the crime.
The special court deemed the offense extremely serious, taking into account the victim's age and the fact that the accused was HIV-positive. Prior to the 2019 assault, the accused had attempted to sexually abuse the minor in 2018 but no complaint was filed at that time. The police learned that the accused was aware of his HIV-positive status and had been receiving medication for several days leading up to the 2019 incident.
Following the minor's grandmother filing a First Information Report at the local police station, the accused was initially charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for sexual harassment and the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexual assault and sexual harassment. However, after a medical examination on December 7, 2019, the police upgraded the charges to rape under the IPC and penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act.
The police filed the chargesheet against the accused on February 3, 2020. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence from nine witnesses.
Written by urgent.news from The Indian Express's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
