The sessions court on Wednesday convicted a 30-year-old man who was arrested under the PITA (Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act) and in a rape case. The court, presided over by judge Vrushali Joshi, sentenced the convict, Arabali Mulla, to 10 years of imprisonment.

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The case dates back to November 2011, when the 16-year-old girl, a West Bengal resident, missed a call from Mulla's number. Not recognising the number, she called back. Mulla then professed his love for her and proposed marriage to her. Non-committal at first, the girl gave Mulla a fake name and continued to communicate with him.

After a week, she revealed her real name to him and reciprocated his love. On November 9, 2011, Mulla called her up and asked her to elope with him, to which the victim agreed.

Mulla took her to his relative's place on the pretext of taking shelter for a night and raped her. He raped her seven to eight times over three days, after which they left for Mumbai from West Bengal.

Mulla assured the girl that he would get married to her after they reached Mumbai, but he, in fact, sold her to a brothel. The girl realised what had happened after men started coming into the room she had been put up in and raping her.

The matter came to light when an acquaintance of Mulla's, Gayatri Kambli, who he had visited once along with the girl, found out what had happened and tipped off the police.

The police arrested everyone involved, including Kambli, but the court acquitted her as no evidence was found against her.