Labourer gets 10-year jail term for kidnapping, raping minor in 2019

A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for kidnapping and repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl in Mumbai in 2019.

MUMBAI: A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court on Monday sentenced a 27-year-old labuorer, Mohammad Shaikh, from Kurla to 10 years of imprisonment for kidnaping and raping a 14-year-old repeatedly in 2019.

HT Image

Special judge Chhaya Patil also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on Shaikh.

Additional public prosecutor Chaitrali Panshikar stated that the victim left her home in Kurla on March 10, 2019, around 10.30pm on the pretext of going to the washroom. However, when she did not return and the family could not find her, they lodged a complaint.

The police found the girl after 3 months - on May 14, 2019. The victim revealed that on the day she went missing, she was roaming under a bridge near their house when the accused had kidnapped her in an autorickshaw.

Shaikh took the victim to a relative’s place in Tilaknagar and then to his native village in Uttar Pradesh. When the father of the accused denied them shelter at his house in Uttar Pradesh, Shaikh and the victim stayed in a garden for some days. He raped the victim repeatedly during their entire journey and stays.

The court noted that the evidence of the victim carries more weightage than the evidence of other witnesses.

Advocate Vasant Prabhu, representing Shaikh, argued that the mother (complainant) knew that the accused and the victim were in a love affair and yet she reported an incident of kidnapping against an unknown person.

He further stated that considering that the victim did not complain to anyone for three months, she had voluntarily joined the accused. However, the court held, “The victim may have voluntarily joined the company of accused, but as per provision of the law, she is a minor and unable to give consent for any of the act, then just for voluntarily joining the company by victim, the accused cannot take advantage and cannot commit the act which is prohibited by law.”

According to the order, the victim revealed facts in front of the Magistrate that she had previously failed to mention before the police or the court. The victim alleged that the night she went missing, she was gangraped by three men in the hut of the accused after being forced to consume drugs.

The victim then returned home. Later that night, on 10 March 2019, one of the men knocked on the victim’s door and asked her to meet them outside. He threatened to kill her if she refused. Frightened, she left the home on the pretext of going to the washroom.

The court noted that although these facts were exaggerated, it appeared that two of the accused are still absconding and directed the police to take action.

Shaikh was booked for committing offences punishable under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), 8 (punishment for sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act, 2012.