KOTA: A Pocso court has sentenced a 22-year-old man to life in jail for holding hostage and raping a 13-year-old girl in the Dadabari police station area around three years ago. The court also slapped a total fine of Rs 41,000 upon the convict.
The convict Deepak Rajput, who ran a grocery shop, abducted the minor girl when she had gone to his shop to purchase rice on June 27, 2019, and took her to a nearby deserted building in the neighbourhood, held her captive for around two hours and repeatedly raped her till her family members reached there at night and rescued her, Public Prosecutor (PP) of Pcocso court-5, Suresh Verma, said.
Based on the report by the survivor’s parents, police lodged a case of abduction and rape under Sections 376 and 342 of the IPC, ¾ of the Pocso Act, and under Sections of SC/ST Act on June 28, 2019, at the Dadabari police station and later arrested the youth, the PP said.
The police, following thorough investigation and verification of evidence, filed the chargesheet, he added.
Special judge Hanuman Prasad held Deepak Rajput guilty under the relevant Sections of the IPC, the POCSO and the SC/ST Act on Wednesday and convicted him to a life term in jail, the PP said. The convict had been in jail under judicial custody after his arrest, he said.
Statements of at least 16 witnesses were recorded before the court during trial, he added.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
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