30-yr-old gets 20 years in jail for kidnapping, raping minor girl

Agra: A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment by a special Pocso court in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl in 2021.The prosecution said the girl was abducted on Nov 10, 2021, from near her home in a village in the district by the bike-borne accused while her family was asleep. She was taken to an isolated place and assaulted, after which the man, also a resident of the same village, fled the spot, the girl's father said. She later returned home and narrated the incident to her parents, following which a complaint was filed and a medical examination conducted.A case was registered under IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage, etc), along with relevant sections of the Pocso Act. Police subsequently arrested the accused and sent him to jail.The trial was conducted in the court of special judge Alka Bharti. "Additional district govt counsel (ADGC) Vikrant Rathi successfully represented the prosecution, presenting the evidence that led to the conviction," said district govt counsel (DGC) Rajeev Sharma. "The prosecution presented solid evidence and examined eight witnesses. After hearing both sides, the court on Wednesday passed its judgment, sentencing the man to 20 years' imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs 20,000," he added.