A court in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly sentenced a 21-year-old woman on Saturday (May 4) for providing false testimony in a 2019 kidnapping and rape case. Her sentence matches the duration served by a 25-year-old man implicated in the case—four years, eight months, and six days.
According to an Indian Express report, the court fined the woman Rs 5.88 lakh. Failure to pay would result in an additional six months of imprisonment, with the amount directed to the man implicated in the case.
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The court order stated, "In this case, she is punished with rigorous imprisonment of 04 years, 06 months, 08 days, i.e. 1,653 days and a fine of Rs 5,88,822.47/-. In case of non-payment of the fine, she will have to undergo simple imprisonment for an additional 6 months."
The fine, totalling Rs 5,88,822.47, was calculated based on the daily wages set by the Uttar Pradesh government for unskilled labour, as per government counsel Sunil Pandey.
Sunil Pandey elaborated, "During the trial, the woman backtracked on her earlier statement during cross-examination. She denied the assertion that the youth kidnapped and raped her. She was then arrested and sent to jail."