India, Sept. 29 -- A 10-year-old survivor of sexual assault will receive a personal letter of encouragement written by the trial judge who convicted her attacker. The girl was assaulted three years ago when she was seven years old by a man she referred to as "uncle". The Delhi high court, which was hearing the accused's plea challenging his conviction, directed that the letter be handed over to the child within two weeks along with the compensation awarded her.

While sentencing the convict to life imprisonment earlier this year, judge Rajani Ranga had written to the child that although the court could not restore her lost childhood, it could assure her that her words had been heard. The judge also noted that the child's plea that her "un...