Inflicting numerous blade marks all over a seven-year-old child's body, trying to batter his head with a stone and leaving him to die in a pool of blood showed "barbaric mentality", a Delhi court said while sentencing a man to life imprisonment for the offences of kidnapping and attempt to murder.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat was hearing the arguments on the quantum of sentence against Mohammed Moi alias Mohit, who was convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 364 (kidnapping to commit murder).
In an order dated June 4, the court said, "The aggravating factors against the convict in the present case are the age of the victim child and the manner of committing the crime. At the time of the incident (in 2017), the victim child was aged about five to seven years and the convict gave several stone blows to the head of such a minor child, and also gave several blade cuts to the body of the said child and thereafter, left the child in a blood bath at the spot." Expressing anguish, the court wondered how the convict, a father of three children, attempted to murder the child in such a "brutal manner".
"The act of giving several blade marks on the face, shoulder, hand, legs etc. of the minor child shows the barbaric mentality of the convict, and it also shows the heinousness of the offence.
When the victim child was called in court for final compensation, even after about eight years of the incident, he was afraid of the convict and apprehensive that he could come and cause injuries to him.
He was continuously weeping in the court due to the convict's fear, the court said.
It said the convict did not deserve leniency on the grounds of his poor financial condition and future prospects of his children and needed to be dealt with an "iron hand".
The court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the offences.
Regarding the aspect of compensation, the court noted the submissions of the victim's elder brother and grandmother that since the day of the incident, the victim was continuously undergoing mental trauma and was in perpetual fear that the convict could come at any time and cause injuries to him.
"From the submissions, this court is of the considered opinion that it is a fit case for compensation," the judge said, directing the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to award suitable compensation to the child.
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