Ambala: Youth gets 20-yr jail for raping minor orphan

Ambala, May 5

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Aarti Singh sentenced a youth to rigorous imprisonment for 20 years for raping a 12-year-old minor girl.

The fast-track court constituted under the POCSO Act held Parveen of Karnal guilty of the rape charge. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on the convict.

As per the information, in 2019, the victim, an orphan, came in contact with a woman beggar at the Ambala Cantonment railway station and they developed a cordial relation. Later, the woman offered the minor to marry her (woman’s) brother. She took her to the Kurukshetra railway station where the accused met them.

He took her back to Ambala and raped her. He also took her to Kurukshetra, Haridwar and Karnal, continued to rape her for several days and then left her.

Public Prosecutor Surjit Singh argued that the accused violated the minor on the pretext of marriage. His act adversely affected her mental state.

The court observed that the child, an orphan, faced most traumatic experience of rape at a tender age, which left a permanent scar on her mind. The convict deserved no leniency and was sentenced for seven years in jail under Section 366 of the IPC, and for 20 years under Section 376 (3) of the IPC. The sentences will run concurrently.

The court awarded a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victim.