Chandigarh: Youth jailed for 20 years for kidnapping, raping minor girl

The Chandigarh court also imposed a ₹40,000 fine on him; it ordered that he should be kept at a place of safety till he attains 21 years of age

A fast-track POCSO court has awarded 20-year jail to a 20-year-old man for raping and kidnapping a minor girl after luring her with marriage in 2021.

The minor girl’s father, a resident of Burail, Chandigarh, had told police that he remained home due to his disability. On January 24, 2021, his minor daughter went somewhere without informing the family. (Getty Images/Purestock)

The convict, who lives in Adda Jhungian village, Dera Bassi, was 17 years old when he committed the crime.

He was convicted under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The court also imposed a ₹40,000 fine on him. It ordered that he should be kept at a place of safety till he attains 21 years of age.

On February 1, 2021, the juvenile was booked for kidnapping and rape in a zero FIR at the Zirakpur police station.

The minor girl’s father, a resident of Burail, Chandigarh, had told police that he remained home due to his disability. On January 24, 2021, his minor daughter went somewhere without informing the family.

When he called her mobile phone number, she revealed that she will not return home, as she had gone with a boy and wanted to marry him.

The girl was traced to a hotel on January 31, 2021, following which she revealed that the boy lured her on the pretext of marriage and raped her at another hotel, before leaving her at this hotel.

The girl was medically examined at GMSH, Sector 16, Chandigarh, and samples from both the girl and the accused were drawn for forensic purposes. Later, the boy was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, Chandigarh, and remained in custody for the trial.

In court, the accused pleaded that he was innocent and came from a poor family. His father was no more and he was the only one to look after his mother.

The minor girl stood by her statement, and the public prosecutor also argued that he had committed a heinous crime and deserved stern punishment.

On this, the court observed, “Mere absence of past criminal antecedents is only one of the factors to be taken into consideration while awarding sentence, but the same cannot be the solitary criteria being pleaded as a mitigating circumstances.”

The court has also directed DLSA to award ₹4-lakh compensation to the girl under the victim compensation scheme.