The II Additional District and Special Sessions Court in Kalaburagi on Thursday sentenced Salim, a resident of Kolakur village in Jewargi taluk, to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor and also fined him ₹2 lakh.
As per court sources, the guilty had been harassing the victim for the last two years.
On August 25, 2018, around 6 p.m., when she had gone out, the accused and a friend forcibly took her to a desolate place and raped her. The same night, he took her to his relative’s house in Shahabad. The next day, he took the victim to Mumbai and stayed at a friend’s house.
He managed to get a room on rent by saying that he and his companion had come to Mumbai searching for work. He again raped her several times in the subsequent days. Following a complaint lodged with the Jewargi police station, a case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (PoCSO) Act 2012.
D.B. Patil, Circle Inspector (Jewargi), investigated the case and filed a chargesheet.
Gopalappa S., judge, found the accused guilty of crimes specified in the chargesheet and pronounced the judgment.
Apart from the circumstantial evidence, he considered the statements of the victim, a person who saw the accused taking away the victim, and the person who helped him get accommodation in Mumbai.
The judge awarded life imprisonment to the guilty and fined him ₹1 lakh under Section 376(2)(N) of the IPC (punishment for rape), and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
He also awarded him 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fined him ₹1 lakh under Section 366(A) 376(2)(I)(N) and 109 of IPC, and Sections 4, 6 and 17 of the POCSO Act.
It was clarified that the punishments will run concurrently and not consecutively. The judge ordered the District Legal Services Authority to pay ₹5 lakh compensation to the victim.