Youth gets 20-year jail for gang-raping minor in Sonepat

The fast-track special court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Narender on Wednesday awarded 20-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a person for gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in the Kharkhoda area of Sonepat. The court had already awarded RI of 20 years to four children in conflict with law in the same case last month.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 56,000 on the convict.

As per the police record, the fifth accused Ankit of Kharkhoda was a major at the time of committing the crime.

Vijender Singh, Special Public Prosecutor, said the incident was reported to the Kharkhoda police on April 2, 2023.

The mother of the victim, in her complaint to the police, said her daughter was a student of Class XII at a government school.

Her daughter told her that a boy, who was her classmate, called her to his friend’s house at Kharkhoda on the pretext of providing her books on March 31, 2023.

Her classmate and his friend raped her along with another friend. They then called two more friends, one of whom violated her while the other tried to rape her. The five accused then threatened the victim saying that they had made obscene videos of her and if she disclosed the incident to anyone, they would make the videos viral on social media.

The accused also demanded Rs 40,000 from the victim. They also threatened her that if she disclosed their names, they would kill her and her family members. Following the complaint, the Kharkhoda police registered a case under Sections 376D, 385 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 6 and 18 of the POCSO Act. The police arrested all five accused in the case and produced them before the court. On Wednesday, the Court of ASJ Narender awarded 20 years RI to Ankit and imposed a fine of Rs 56,000 on him. The court had also directed to give Rs 40,000 to the victim from the fine amount of Rs 56,000, he added.