A fast-track court in Jammu on Saturday awarded ten years of rigorous imprisonment to a suspended sub-judge for raping a domestic help. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.
Presiding Officer Khalil Choudhary further sentenced Rajesh Kumar Abrol to simple imprisonment of seven years and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 for cheating the woman.
Abrol was suspended following the FIR and was subsequently arrested.
The court said, “It is not only the duty of the court, but social and legal obligations are clearly enjoined upon it to impose adequate punishment according to law while taking into consideration not only the crime, but also the criminal… Furthermore, deterrence and reformation are primarily social goals.’’
Choudhary added: “It is the duty of the court to impose adequate sentence, for one of the purposes of the requisite sentence is protection of the society and legitimate response to its collectively concise. The paramount principle that should be a guiding laser beam is that the punishment should be proportionate.”
Abrol was convicted on Thursday for raping and cheating the domestic help on the pretext of providing her legal support.
The court held that “all the evidence on record unerringly points towards the guilt of the accused. There is a complete chain of events and facts to indicate that within all human probability, the crme was committed by the accused”.
According to the prosecution, in January 2018. the woman accusedAbrol of marrying her when he was already married. She said she had sought legal help from Abrol who promised her the same if she worked as his domestic help for a monthly salary of Rs 5,000.