Shahjahanpur.  It was the year 1994. Naqi Hasan and his brother Guddu used to sexually abuse a minor girl living in her brother-in-law's house. She was helpless and couldn't even resist. Due to the cruelty of both of them, she had to become a mother without marriage.

She was suffocated, she was looking for a new turn in life after handing over her newborn son to someone else. After waiting for 27 years, she went to the court on the insistence of the same son, pleaded for justice. Finally…after a three year hearing, on Tuesday, additional district judge Lavi Yadav sentenced the culprit Naki Hasan and his brother Guddu to 10 years of imprisonment each. After the court's decision came, the victim said on the phone- I am satisfied that both the culprits will go to jail. The hope for justice that was there has been fulfilled.

The incident is 30 years old

The 30-year-old incident still haunts the victim. She wanted to study, so in 1994 she started living with her sister and brother-in-law. Her brother-in-law had a private job and her sister used to teach in school. In their absence, Naki and Guddu used to come to the house and exploit the victim, due to which she became pregnant. When the family came to know about this, they took her to the doctor, but he refused to abort the child, saying that it was life-threatening at such a young age.

Minor gave birth to a son

The minor victim was unable to understand what was happening to her, while the family members kept quiet due to social stigma. Meanwhile, due to transfer, the brother-in-law had to go to Rampur and the minor who went with him gave birth to a son there. The relatives gave their son for adoption to a couple from Hardoi and thought of starting their life afresh. After she became an adult, they got her married in Ghazipur in the year 2000, but after some time her husband came to know about her past and hence divorced her. She started living in her maternal home in Lucknow.

Mother reached court on son's insistence

The son living in Hardoi also came to know that the people with whom he lived were not his real parents. As the truth started to unravel, the son reached Lucknow to meet his mother. After knowing the entire incident, on her insistence, the victim filed an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in March 2021. On the orders of the court, an FIR was registered against truck driver Naki Hasan and Guddu.

In the year 2022, DNA test confirmed Naki to be the main accused. After which the police sent him and Guddu to jail. Naki is still in jail. While Guddu alias Mohd. Razi was out on bail. The Additional District Judge has ordered him to be arrested and sent to jail as well.

Inadequate punishment harms the justice system

Additional District Judge Lavi Yadav also agreed with the arguments of the government advocate. He wrote in his order that the victim was raped in her teens. Due to which she got pregnant and gave birth to a son. He also referred to a decision of Madhya Pradesh and said that showing undue sympathy towards the accused by giving inadequate punishment harms the justice system. This adversely affects people's faith in the effectiveness of the law.

Justice must be done on the principle of proportionality. It is the gravity of the crime that decides what the punishment should be. Therefore both the accused are sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment each.