NRI jailed for abusing mentally-challenged girl

An Indian-origin man was on Friday sentenced to four years in prison here after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a mentally challenged girl last year. Shreya Lal, 21, of Lombard near here has also been ordered to register as a "lifetime convicted sex offender" upon his release from prison. He was charged with sexually abusing a 20-year-old girl, who has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, in
June last year. Lal's attorney John Donahue told DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin that Lal was mentally
ill and health experts have determined he suffers from "cognitive reasoning dysfunction". Under the plea
agreement that Lal has entered into for pleading guilty, he would receive treatment at a correctional centre
for neurological, developmental and cognitive problems that stretch back to infancy. He must serve 85 per
cent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. According to the complaint against him, Lal sexually
assaulted his victim on June 15, 2009 at his residence after convincing her to come home. He took his
victim's cell phone from her and threatened her with physical harm if she reported the incident to the police.
Lal has remained in custody since his arrest in June last year. Lal's victim lives with her mother, who had
obtained a 2009 protective order on behalf of her daughter against Lal. Despite the protective order, Lal
admitted sexually assaulting the young woman, whom he had met on social networking site Facebook. He
said she was his girlfriend. He also admitted that he knew she was mentally disabled and did not having any
understanding or ability to give consent to sex. The identity of the girl has not been released. Lal has a
history of indecent public behaviour. In 2008, Lal was placed under court supervision after he was
convicted of public indecency while exposing himself. He also was investigated, but not charged, with
offering to pay another mentally challenged girl $ 5,000 to perform a sex act in October 2008. Born in
India, Lal came to the US in 1999 and is now an American citizen.

Rape law scope is widened

The home ministry is working on a draft Bill seeking to replace the word “rape” from the 150-year-old Indian Penal Code (IPC) with “sexual assault”, to broaden the ambit of crimes covered under the sections and make the provisions “gender-neutral”.

As per Section 375 of the IPC, “penetration” is sufficient to constitute forced sexual intercourse necessary to define rape. However, the changes being mulled by a committee, constituted under the chairmanship of the Union home secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai, seeks to replace the word “rape” with “sexual assault”.

This would include not just forced sexual intercourse but also crimes such as sodomy, using the finger, insertion of foreign object and other similar offences which are not covered under the present definition of rape, official sources said.

The move is being viewed as an attempt to cover sexual crimes among homosexuals with homosexuality being decriminalised by a Delhi High Court order last year.

As per data with the home ministry, cases of child rape are on the rise. A total of 2.10 lakh cases were registered between 2006-2008 under sections related to rape, sexual harassment or molestation.