Man sentenced to 10-yr rigorous imprisonment for raping minor girl

A 23-year-old man was today sentenced to ten years rigorous imprisonment by a court here for raping a 16-year-old girl in his neighbourhood last year. Special Judge of Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Geeta Gopi pronounced the sentence to Shubhash alias Bhotiyo alias Arjun Parmar in the 2013 case.

The court also ordered the convict to pay a fine of Rs 55,000 which would be given to the victim as a compensatory amount. "There is a need to set an example in the society to stop such heinous crime against the children," the court said.

The incident occurred on February 6 last year when Parmar had picked up the girl from her school, saying that her mother fell ill suddenly, and took her to Pavagadh hilly area in Panchmahal district where he raped her, police said. The minor girl had later narrated the incident to her parents who had lodged an FIR at Vatva police station area in the city.

Public Prosecutor Nilesh Lodh had contended before the POCSO court that circumstantial and medical evidence established the involvement of accused. Lodh also argued that as per the provisions of the POCSO Act, the girl's statement in itself is a substantial evidence against the accused.

While the defence submitted that the victim was in relationship with the accused, the prosecution has argued that the victim was a minor at the time of incident, therefore the element of relationship cannot be counted.