3 get 20 yrs RI for kidnapping minorfrom UP village fair, gang-raping her

Agra: A local court in UP sentenced three men to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) each for the kidnapping and gangrape of a 15-year-old girl in 2020. The special judge (Pocso) also imposed a fine of Rs 28,000 on each convict.The crime dates back to Jan 18, that year, when the minor was abducted from a village fair in Hathras. In her statement, the girl stated that she had studied up to Class VIII. "I met three accused from the area at the fair. They took me in a tempo to a room and did bad things to me. One more joined them, and they said that they would kill me. I was confined for three days. They also threatened to take me to Agra, and left me at another place," she said.Notably, one of the accused, who was initially nabbed and later got bail, is now absconding and did not appear before the court in Hathras, additional district govt counsel (ADGC) Trilok Sharma said, adding that, "The court has ordered to issue an NBW for him."Soon after the incident in 2020, the survivor's father had filed a police complaint, stating, a man and his two associates had kidnapped his daughter (then 15). "She did not return home till evening, and I searched for her everywhere. A villager saw her being taken away," the complainant stated. The father was unaware about the fourth accused who joined the others later.Acting on the father's complaint, an FIR was registered under IPC section 363 (kidnapping) and a search was initiated. The girl was traced after three days, and her statement recorded under CrPC sections 161 and 164 led to the identification of her tormentors.Based on the investigation, additional sections under IPC 376-D (gang rape) and sections 3/4 of the Pocso Act were added. Police arrested all four accused and sent them to jail. They later got bail.ADGC Sharma said, "The court found all three accused (now in their late 20s) guilty, and the special judge, Chitra Sharma, sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment on Thursday."