Lucknow: A special Pocso court in Bahraich on Monday sentenced a 16-year-old convict , to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl and causing her to become pregnant.
Special district govt counsel, Sant Pratap Singh, said that the incident took place in Dec 2021, when the survivor was 15 years and 11 months old. Survivor’s brother got registered an FIR at the Dargah Sharif police station on June 22, 2022. . The convict was arrested on June 24, 2022, and sent to jail. SP Bahraich, Vishwajeet Srivastava, said that police filed a charge-sheet under sections 376, 504 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 3/4 of the POCSO Act.
The testimony of Dr Anuradha Mishra, the medical witness, formed part of the prosecution evidence presented before the court.
The judgment recorded that DNA testing conducted after the child’s birth found the convict and the victim to be the biological father and mother of the child, said Singh Quoting court order, Singh said that as the accused was 16 at the time of the offence he could not be sentenced to death or life imprisonment under the Juvenile Justice Act. The court noted that the victim’s educational records established her age to be a minor. Medical examination also found her to be around seven months pregnant. .
Special Judge Arbind Kumar Gautam convicted the accused, under Section 6 of the Pocso Act. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000, with an additional one-year imprisonment in case of non-payment.