A UP court has sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl. The girl was held captive for nearly four months in Himachal Pradesh before being rescued in December 2021.
A special POCSO court in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh has sentenced a 30-year-old daily wage worker from Sambhal district to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old school student. The crime dates back to 2021 and the case has now reached its final judgement.
Convict held student captive for months
According to the prosecution, the man kidnapped the girl in August 2021 and kept her captive for nearly four months in Himachal Pradesh. The survivor was rescued in December 2021 after police traced her location, according to a report by The Times of India.
The verdict was announced on Tuesday by special judge Abhishek Kumar Bagaria. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 18,000 on the convict. Additional district government counsel Mahesh Singh said Rs 10,000 from the fine amount has been directed to be given to the survivor as compensation.
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How the case began
The case was registered in August 2021 after the victim's father reported her missing. He told the police that his daughter had not returned home from school. When he contacted the school, he learned that she had left early, saying she was unwell.
After months of searching, police located the girl at Aligarh railway station on December 20, 2021.
Survivor's statement in court
In her court statement, the survivor described the ordeal she faced. "I met him on the way. He covered my face with a scarf and took me somewhere. He kept me in a room. He abused me, beat me and sexually assaulted me," she told the court, the TOI report added.
She added that the convict later brought her to the railway station, but when he saw police nearby, he ran away. Police then rescued the girl and recorded her statement.
The court's strong sentence brings closure to the survivor's long struggle for justice, nearly four years after the crime.
