Bulandshahr : A Pocso court in UP’s Bulandshahr has sentenced a 24-year-old man to life imprisonment and Rs 30,000 fine for kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old Dalit girl during the Covid lockdown in 2020. The girl was burnt to death about four months after the crime.
On the afternoon of Aug 14, 2020, the girl went to an orchard and when she did not return by evening, her family and villagers looked for her through the night.
The girl later told her family how she was abducted, forcibly sedated and assaulted. She was found in a cane field nearby, in an unconscious state the next evening.
It also ordered that 50% of the fine be paid to her dependents.
Special public prosecutor Bharat Sharma said, “Girl had initially testified before court. Pronouncing the verdict Wednesday, the additional sessions judge Shagun Panwar described the crime against the minor as “heinous” and stressed the need for strict punishment. She was burnt alive a few months later. Two men were convicted in a separate murder case. The trial in the rape case continued on the basis of her father’s testimony, police investigation, medical reports and other evidence.