Court sentences man to 7 years in prison for raping 16-year-old and threatening her with nude photos | Mumbai News

Mumbai: A special court in Pocso on Thursday declared a 29-year-old man a heinous offender and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment. The man had raped a 16-year-old girl by threatening to send nude photos to her parents. The accused had 500 photos of the girl. The victim, who had met the accused through a common friend in 2013, had had enough of the harassment and even tried to commit suicide by slitting her veins. “The accused committed a serious offence against a minor girl. He stored her nude photos on his phone for committing a heinous offence and threatening to accuse her of unchastity. The medical report also shows injuries on her private parts and forearms and wrists. Due to repeated harassment by the accused, the victim took steps to slit her veins and whenever she met the accused, he harassed her,” the judge said. The victim and the accused became friends. However, after relentlessly pursuing her and making her give in, he later started becoming possessive and even abused her. Her attempts to break off the relationship ended with him threatening her with nude photos that he obtained after emotionally blackmailing her. The complaint was filed in November 2015 while the harassment began in 2013. Refuting the defence argument that the delay in filing the complaint meant that the accused was falsely incriminated, the judge noted that although the harassment took place from 2013 to 2015, the victim was in a confused state as to who to disclose the harassment to. “On one hand, she was scared for her parents and on the other hand, the accused took advantage of the circumstances, threatened her and insisted that she should have physical intercourse with him. The accused had her nude photos and hence the victim was under pressure that he would abuse her nude photos if she did not listen to the accused,” the judge said. The judge said she went to the police only with the help of a friend. It was found that the victim did not intentionally delay the complaint. “However, in such cases, the accused is not entitled to any compensation just for filing the complaint late,” the judge said. The judge further said that the victim’s statement was confirmed by a doctor and that she was raped. “In such cases, the victim’s statement alone is also sufficient. But the victim’s statement through rape, molestation, nude photos with the accused, threat and assault inspires confidence. The victim was a minor, the accused was in a love affair and demanded nude photos of her on his mobile,” the judge said.