Ten convicted for kidnapping, selling Noida woman as bride in Haryana

A court in Greater Noida has convicted 10 people for kidnapping an 18-year-old woman from Badalpur and “selling” her for ₹70,000 as a bride to a man in Sonepat, Haryana, officials said on Saturday

A court in Greater Noida has convicted 10 people for kidnapping an 18-year-old woman from Badalpur and “selling” her for ₹70,000 as a bride to a man in Sonepat, Haryana, officials said on Saturday.

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The Surajpur court convicted Sonepat resident Jasveer Singh, 55 — who “bought” the woman to marry her and subsequently raped her — to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Nine others, identified as Gudiya alias Nazreen and Naushad from Hapur, Puja and Rupkishore from Sambhal, Nawab from Meerut, Kiran from Sonepat, and Dhramraj, Kabool and Sunil from Rohtak, were sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment by the court on Friday.

An 11th accused in the case, Bhupendra from Rohtak, died during trial.

Giving details of the case, special public prosecutor Chavanpal Bhati said the victim went missing from her Badalpur home on December 26, 2021. “Her family launched a search but failed to trace her. Two days later, on December 28, they filed a police complaint at the Badalpur police station,” he said.

Police then registered a first information report under charges of kidnapping and launched an investigation.

Two weeks later, the victim called her mother and said that she was sold, married, raped, and held hostage by Jasveer in Sonepat. Her mother then informed police, who reached the spot, rescued the victim and arrested 10 people involved in the case.

“The victim’s mother in the initial complaint said the girl was 16-years-old. However, during trial, it was found that the girl was 18-years-old following an ossification test (bone testing to determine age). Hence, charges under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act were dropped, and only charges under the Indian Penal Code were considered,” Bhati said.

During trial, Jasveer denied the allegations and decided to face trial. Kishan Lal Parashar, his counsel, told the court, “The victim had gone on her own... There is no evidence that she was sold for ₹70,000 as alleged.”