Sodomy case:Youth released on probation, gets chance to reform

New Delhi: A young man held guilty of sodomising a minor boy in 2007, has been released on probation by a Delhi court which said he should be given an opportunity to reform and rehabilitate himself in the society and become a responsible citizen.

 Special Judge V K Khanna released convict Mangal Singh, now a 28-year-old, on probation for a period of two years, after considering his "positive attitude" and the fact that the victim's family had forgiven him for the sake of harmony in their locality.

 "Having regard to the totality of facts including that appellant has already undergone about 2.5 months in custody and incident took place eight years ago and he has repented his act...This court is of the considered view that appellant should be given an opportunity to reform and rehabilitate himself in the society and to become a responsible citizen," the judge said.

 The court's verdict came on an appeal filed by Singh against a magisterial court's order that had sentenced him to three years in jail for the offences of sodomy and criminal intimidation under IPC.

 The judge, while modifying the sentence order, also noted, "Convict is having positive attitude...Complainant (the father) and the (victim's) mother had appeared in the court and stated that they had received Rs 50,000 and for the sake of harmony in locality appellant had been forgiven by them.

 "Appellant is ordered to be released on furnishing bonds of probation in a sum of Rs 25,000 with a surety of like amount for a period of two years and he shall further deposit Rs 25,000 as compensation in the trial court towards costs of prosecution proceedings," the court said.

 The court upheld his conviction saying there is nothing to impeach the veracity of the prosecution witnesses and medical evidence also proved the allegations.

 Mangal Singh, a Delhi resident, was convicted of offences under sections 377 (unnatural offences) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and sentenced to three years in jail by a magisterial court in April 2015.

 In his appeal, he had challenged the order, which had also directed him to pay Rs four lakh compensation to the victim boy, and sought leniency saying he had been appearing before the court for eight years and had spent 2.5 months in jail.

 According to the complaint lodged by the boy's father, on August 9, 2007, Singh had committed sodomy with his son at a toilet near a temple and threatened him not to disclose it to anyone or he will be killed.

 The boy returned home crying and narrated the incident to his father, who lodged a police complaint, it said.