LI Network
Published on: September 1, 2022 at 23:01 IST
In a first-of-its-kind conviction, a 65-year-old man in Noida was convicted for ‘digital rape’ this week.
The Noida’s Surajpur District and Sessions court awarded life imprisonment to man for committing digital rape of 3 year old girl.
Accused Akbar Ali, is a native of a village in Malda, West Bengal. The court of district and sessions judge Anil Kumar Singh pronounced Ali to life imprisonment based on evidence and eight testimonies.
The man was charged under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) and Section 375 and Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
What happened?
In 2019, Ali came to Salarpul village in Noida Sector 45 to visit his married daughter. During that time, he lured the minor daughter of a neighbour on the pretext of providing her candies.
Inside his house, he ‘digitally raped’ the girl.
The girl’s parents filed a written police complaint and a medical examination was done that confirmed rape.
Ali has been in the district jail since then. He was refused any interim bail.
Besides life imprisonment, he has also been slapped with a fine of Rs50,000.
As per Public prosecutor Nitin Bishnoi, In 2019, an FIR was registered against Akbar Ali on the basis of a complaint by the girl’s parents. Akbar Ali was arrested after a medical examination confirmed rape. Since then, he has been imprisoned in jail. He had filed an interim bail application in the sessions court and the high court, but his appeal was rejected.
On August 30, 2022, District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar Singh convicted Akbar Ali on circumstantial evidence, medical reports, testimonies of doctors, investigating officers, family members and neighbours and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
What is digital rape?
Unlike the name, the crime does not refer to virtual or online rape. Instead, it refers to the act of forcefully penetrating someone using their ‘digits’ i.e. fingers, thumbs, or toes.
Similar cases of digital rape in India
Earlier this month, Manoj Lala, a 50-year-old from Noida, was arrested for digitally raping a seven-month-old girl child.
In another case, a father from Noida was accused of digitally raping his five-year-old child in June 2022, and was nabbed after her mother’s FIR.
In 2021, an 80-year-old artist was accused of digitally raping a girl for seven years.
Information
Here are some statistics of rape in India
According to the Crime In India 2021 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) this week, India registered over 31,000 cases of rape.
Delhi registered 1,250 cases of rape while Haryana about 1700, and Uttar Pradesh registered 2,845 cases of rape in 2021.
As per data, in 29% of the rapes, the perpetrator knows the survivor.