Sonu Punjaban sentenced to 24 years in prison for forcing 12-year-old girl into prostitution

Notorious human trafficker Sonu Punjaban alias Geeta Arora was on Wednesday sentenced to 24-year imprisonment for kidnapping and forcing a 12-year-old girl into prostitution. 

A Delhi court had on July 17 convicted Sonu Punjaban for kidnapping, human trafficking and prostitution. This is the first case against Arora in which she has been convicted. 

Another person, identified as Sandeep Bedwal, has also been convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping and raping the minor girl. 

According to prosecution, a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped by Sandeep Bedwal on September 11, 2009. After raping her, she sold her to a woman named Seema who resold her to Sonu Punjaban. The minor girl was forced to sell her body by both Seema and Punjaban. 

Sonu Punjaban used her for prostitution and before sending her to customers also administered drugs such as proxyvon and alprex tablets. She also injected drugs to the victim so that the body of the victim became tight and more suitable for prostitution, the police said.

The victim escaped on February 9, 2014 and filed a complaint at Najafgarh police station. 

The police is yet to catch all the accused in the case. 

Sonu Punjaban was convicted by a special POCSO court under various charges pertaining with kidnapping, etc of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant Sections of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act dealing with prostitution.

A day after her conviction last week, Sonu Punjab attempted suicide at Delhi's Tihar jail. She was immediately rushed to Deen Dayal Hospital after her condition worsened. She is said to be out of danger now, according to doctors.