Greater Noida man given 20 years in jail for 2019 rape of minor

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl in Surajpur in July 2019 by a POCSO court in Greater Noida, officials said on Saturday

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl in Surajpur in July 2019 by a POCSO court in Greater Noida, officials said on Saturday. While the girl’s parents said she was 12 years old, medical examiners said she was 16.5 years old at the time of the incident.

The accused was also fined ₹70,000 and court said that all sentences will run concurrently. (File Photo)

According to the court order issued on Friday, the accused, a shopkeeper and neighbour, entered the girl’s residence when she was alone and raped her. He also threatened her not to report the incident, it said.

The girl’s mother filed a complaint with police, following which the accused was arrested. “According to the victim’s mother’s complaint filed on July 21, 2019 at Surajpur police station, she had gone out to buy medicine and her husband, a construction worker, was at work when the incident took place,” Chawanpal Singh, special public prosecutor, said.

Police registered a case under charges of rape and POCSO Act, and arrested the accused the same day from his residence. He was produced in court and placed in judicial custody. The charge sheet was filed on December 6, 2019, and the charges were framed on January 23, 2020. The prosecution presented seven witnesses, including the victim, her mother, a doctor and police personnel.

The victim, in her testimony, was quoted as saying: “I raised the alarm but he overpowered me. When my mother returned, I narrated the incident. My mother visited the accused’s house to complain about the issue, and his family members abused my mother and started quarrelling. Then my mother filed a police complaint.”

Kajal Jain, the doctor who conducted the victim’s medical examination, said that the victim had abrasions and injury marks on her genitalia and traces of the accused person’s DNA were found on her body.

Saurabh Dwivedi, special judge, said in the order: “He is sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 4 of the POCSO Act; five years of imprisonment under Section 452 (trespass) of the IPC.”

The accused was also fined ₹70,000 and court said that all sentences will run concurrently.