'Beta, live your life': Delhi HC orders Judge’s message to 10-year-old rape survivor

According to reports, Shakya has appealed against his conviction and sentence, and on 22 September 2026 a division bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Dinesh Bhatt heard the matter. The court described the trial judge's words as a message of encouragement and recorded them in its order.

A 10-year-old girl in Delhi is about to receive something unusual. Along with the compensation awarded to her family, she will be handed a printed message from the judge who sent her rapist to jail for the rest of his life. The Delhi High Court has ordered it. The girl was seven when she was raped in 2023. When the case reached court, she had one wish about what should happen to the man she called "uncle" - "Jab tak uncle buddhe na ho jaaye, tab tak unhe jail mein hi rakha jaaye." (Till this uncle grows old, keep him in jail.)

Additional Sessions Judge Rajani Ranga convicted Sumit Shakya of aggravated penetrative sexual assault of a child below 12 years under the POCSO Act, and of criminal intimidation. She sentenced him to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. But it was what she wrote next, addressed to the child directly, that has stayed with people, as LiveLaw reported.

"This court cannot give you back your childhood. But this court can promise you that your words have been heard," the judge wrote. She then repeated the girl's own request back to her - "Jab tak uncle buddhe na ho jaaye, tab tak unhe jail mein hi rakha jaaye." (Till this uncle grows old, keep him in jail.) "And this court has answered your plea," Rajani said.

She went on adding, "Today, this court has ordered that the man you called uncle will never walk free again. He will live in a cage for the rest of his life. He will grow old in that cage; he will die in that cage."

The judge ended on a gentler note, calling the child 'beta'. "Now beta, live your life, go to school, make friends, laugh, play, dream. This court will always remember your courage."

The High Court steps in

The girl is now 10. According to reports, Shakya has appealed against his conviction and sentence, and on 22 September 2026 a division bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Dinesh Bhatt heard the matter. The court described the trial judge's words as a message of encouragement and recorded them in its order.

It then directed the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to print the message and hand it to the survivor or her family. The Rs 10.50 lakh compensation awarded by the trial court under Section 33(8) of the POCSO Act is to be delivered with it. The DLSA has two weeks to comply and must file a status report on the compensation.

Sentence not suspended

Shakya also asked the High Court to suspend his sentence and release him on bail while the appeal is pending. The bench refused. It said it had looked at the evidence on record, including the forensic evidence, and saw no reason to grant relief at this stage.

The court admitted his appeal and issued notice to the State and to the survivor. Notice to her will be served through the investigating officer.

The case

The case arises from FIR No. 350/2023 at Budh Vihar police station, registered over an incident on 23 July 2023. The trial court, the Additional Sessions Judge-01 (POCSO), North-West, Rohini, delivered its judgment on 20 May 2026 and passed the sentencing order on 11 July 2026, in Sessions Case No. 772/2023.

Apart from life imprisonment, Shakya was fined Rs 1 lakh for the POCSO offence. He also received five years' rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 20,000 fine for criminal intimidation under Section 506 of the IPC. The sentences run concurrently.

The High Court will next look at the DLSA's status report on 4 November. The appeal itself is listed for 20 January 2027.

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