Chandigarh man who raped, married 17-year-old awarded 10-year jail

The accused and the minor girl had known each other for two years before the sexual assaults; the court also fined the convict ₹20,000

A local court has sentenced a Bapu Dham Colony resident for raping a 17-year-old girl and impregnating her in 2019, a year before he married her.

When the quantum of sentence was pronounced on Friday, the accused prayed for leniency, as he had no previous criminal record and was married to the girl. (HT)

The accused and the minor girl had known each other for two years before the sexual assaults. The court also fined the convict ₹20,000.

The girl’s mother had filed a complaint with the police, saying that the accused had called her 17-year-old daughter to his residence in May 2019 and raped her.

The complainant had alleged that the accused raped her daughter numerous times after blackmailing her. The teenager was taken to the doctor upon complaining of pain in her abdomen. It was then that she discovered that she was two months pregnant.

A case had at the time been registered at the Sector 26 police station under Section 376 (2)(n) (whoever commits rape repeatedly on the same woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused claimed that they had planned to marry each other as soon as the minor had turned 18 and had gotten engaged on September 15, 2019.

The court, however, convicted the accused of rape on Thursday. When the quantum of sentence was pronounced on Friday, the accused prayed for leniency, as he had no previous criminal record and was married to the girl.

But the court sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹10,000 each for both offences.