Panchkula: Man sentenced to 10 years jail for sexually assaulting minor

Upon asking the minor revealed that the accused had forcefully taken her to his house and sexually assaulted her. She also revealed that the accused had done this in the past as well and had threatened to kill her if she told it to anyone

A local court has awarded ten years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a 49 year-old-man accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old minor in the area of the Sector 7 police station in 2022.

Additional sessions judge Manish Dua in the fast track special POCSO court, Panchkula, convicted the accused Mohan Lal and sentenced him to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and levied a fine of ₹30,000 (HT File)

The case was registered on the complaint of the victim’s mother who said her daughter had gone out to get some items from a nearby shop after returning home from school. When she did not come back after some time, a search was conducted, and the child’s crying was heard from a neighbor’s house, raising alarm after hearing her daughter, the accused managed to flee from the spot.

Upon asking the minor revealed that the accused had forcefully taken her to his house and sexually assaulted her. She also revealed that the accused had done this in the past as well and had threatened to kill her if she told it to anyone.

Based on the complaint, the Sector-7 police station had registered a case under Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court ordered that all the sentences will run concurrently and the fine imposed under the POCSO Act will be provided to the victim as per the rules.