Cap. 9 Art. 21Punishment below prescribed minimum.

Saving the provisions of article 492, the court may, for special and exceptional reasons to be expressly stated in detail in the decision, apply in its discretion any lesser punishment which it deems adequate, notwithstanding that a minimum punishment is prescribed in the article contemplating the particular offence or under the provisions of article 20, without prejudice to the provisions of article 7: Provided that where a person who was under eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the commission of the offence is convicted of an offence in accordance with articles 204A, 204B, 208, 208A or 208C and the court is satisfied that the said person was a victim of sexual abuse and was compelled to commit the said offence, the court may, upon conviction, decide not to impose any punishment on the person convicted.