32-year-old bizman gets 20-year jail term for raping minor

The court also sentenced the survivor’s 25-year-old cousin sister and her husband (30) to 30-year imprisonment for abatement as they had dropped of the survivor with the accused, who had offered them ₹2 lakh for bringing the girl to him

Mumbai A special POCSO court on Wednesday sentenced a 32-year-old city businessman to 20-year imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl under the pretext of marrying her. The court also sentenced the survivor’s 25-year-old cousin sister and her husband (30) to 30-year imprisonment for abatement as they had dropped of the survivor with the accused, who had offered them ₹2 lakh for bringing the girl to him.

Minor Rape. (File Photo: IANS) (IANS)

As per the complaint registered by survivor’s mother, her niece – survivor’s cousin sister and her husband had approached her with a marriage proposal for her younger daughter with the accused, Dilip Patel.

The mother claimed that Patel’s father had died and his mother had put a condition that she will transfer all family property and assets to him only after his marriage. Hence, Patel had sought help of survivor’s cousin and her husband to find a girl.

The mother claimed that her niece’s husband had proposed that Patel was looking for a suitable girl for marriage to claim his father’s properties. The mother further claimed that he offered that if he agreed to get married to the survivor, they too will get money and she would be able to repay her loans. When the complainant said that the girl was still minor, the son-in-law suggested that the marriage can just be fixed now and can be performed after she becomes an adult. The mother agreed to the proposal.

The complainant further claimed that on August 2, 2020, her niece took the minor girl to her house under the pretext of introducing her to Patel and his family. It was alleged that the niece and her husband took her to accused’s house and left her there. At night Patel sexually assaulted her and said that he had paid her sister and her husband ₹2 lakh for her.

The next morning, the survivor called her mother and narrated her ordeal. The mother later confronted her niece and later registered the case with Mankhurd police station.

Public prosecutor Veena Shelar examined nine witnesses to prove the case against the trio. Shelar asked for maximum punishment for Patel and equal punishment for the cousin sister and her husband for abatement to the sexual assault under the POCSO Act.

The special court accepted the arguments and held that the people who helped the accused and abated the crime, deserved same punishment and sentenced all the three to 20 years imprisonment.