Chandigarh: Shopkeeper gets four-year RI for raping 12-year-old girl

The accused, Ashok Kumar, a resident of Chandigarh, was convicted under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He was also fined ₹16,000

tanbir.dhaliwal@htlive.com

In October, 2021, a case was registered on the complaint of the minor’s mother, who told police that the accused sexually assaulted her daughter when she went to purchase milk from his shop on October 2. (Stock photo)

Observing that saplings of innocent years of childhood is undoubtedly required to be nurtured with love and affection, a court awarded four years of rigorous imprisonment to a shopkeeper for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2021.

The accused, Ashok Kumar, was convicted under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He was also fined ₹16,000.

In October, 2021, a case was registered on the complaint of the minor’s mother, who told police that the accused sexually assaulted her daughter when she went to purchase milk from his shop on October 2.

The accused was convicted by a special fast-track POCSO court and observed, “In the present matter, convict by his heinous and deplorable act has instilled fear and insecurity in the mind of the minor child. The deplorable act of convict is not an offence against the victim or her family, but against the entire society. Such abhorrent act on behalf of the convict does not augur well with our ethos.”