A city court has sentenced a man to seven years in jail for raping a middle-aged widow by pretending to be a bachelor and marrying her, terming his act as “most deplorable.”
Additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma held Jahangirpuri resident Raj Kumar guilty of rape, cheating and forgery, saying a substantive and stern sentence is required to be imposed upon him so that it serves as an example for others who might also venture on the same forbidden path. The court also imposed a fine of `1 lakh on Kumar, a former Delhi Jal Board employee, and the amount should be given to the victim as compensation. It further directed the state to pay the woman an appropriate sum as compensation under the Delhi Victims Compensation Scheme.
The case was registered against Kumar on the complaint of the woman, a widow and mother of three married children, alleging that he had married her July 22, 2008 at Arya Samaj Mandir, Yamuna Bazar, after posing as a bachelor though he was already married. She had told the police that after death of her husband, she came in contact with Kumar, father of two children, who showed sympathy towards her and asked her to marry him. At the time of marriage, he had furnished false affidavit showing himself to be a bachelor, she had said, adding that after the marriage they developed physical relations and her consent was obtained under the impression that she was his legally wedded wife. She had said when she came to know that he was already married and cheated her, Kumar threatened her with dire consequences if she complained to the police. The prosecution has produced Kumar and the victim’s photographs which were taken at the time of their marriage, marriage certificate, temple’s record as well the priest who had performed the rituals.