"Mitigating circumstances which weigh in favour of the accused must be balanced with the impact of the offence on the victim, her family and society in general. The rights of the accused must be balanced with the effect of the crime on the victim and her family. This is a case which impacts the society. If undue leniency is shown to the respondent in the facts of the case, it will undermine the common man's confidence in the justice delivery system."

Notably, the top court also suggested that the State or Legal Service Authorities ensure that a victim in a child sexual abuse case receives proper counselling by a trained person, and are able to continue with their education.

"It will help the victim children to come out of the trauma, which will enable them to lead a better life in future. The State needs to ensure that the children who are the victims of the offence continue with their education. The social environment around the victim child may not always be conducive to the victim's rehabilitation."

n this regard, only monetary compensation is not holistic enough in terms of rehabilitation in a true sense, the bench added.

"Perhaps the rehabilitation of the girl victims in life should be part of the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign of the Central Government. As a welfare State, it will be the duty of the Government to do so," the Court suggested.

The registry received instructions to send a copy of the judgment to the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.