Accused gets 20-yrs RI for raping minor girl

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Special POCSO judge A S Wairagade sentenced a youth to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) along with imposition of a fine of Rs 50,000 for harassing the five-year-old girl.

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Case history

According to the complaint lodged by the victim's father, she went to learn Arabic at around 7 am on August 18, 2021, and returned home crying at around 9.30 am.

When her mother asked her why she was crying, the girl informed her mother that accued Shaikh Faizan Shaikh Saber (23), took her to school on the pretext that her mother was calling and sexually assaulted her. When the victim's parents went to the accused's house to question him, they found that the accused had fled from there after seeing people gathered. A case was registered with Ajanta Police Station.

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Hearing & sentence in case

The then Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijaykumar Marathe filed the charge sheet in the court after the investigation. During the hearing of the case, Additional Public Prosecutor (Home) Ashish Dale recorded the statements of 20 witnesses. Among them, the statements of the victim, doctor, school headmaster and forensic laboratory expert were important.

After the hearing, the court found the accused Shaikh Faizan, guilty. It sentenced him to 20 years RI' and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 under Section 6 of POCSO. The orders said that if the accused does not pay the fine, he would have to undergo an additional imprisonment of three months. The court ordered the District Legal Services Authority to guide the victim's family to get compensation as per government rules.