Duo awarded 12 years’ RI for raping, selling minor

Hazaribag: A Pocso court here on Saturday awarded 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment to two persons for abducting, raping and selling a 15-year-old girl in 2018. The duo, Paras Ram (30) and Arvind alias Jokha (34), were also fined Rs 20,000 each under sections of the IPC. They will have to undergo one more prison term in case of failure to pay the fines.
A jail term of five years (concurrent) was also slapped on the duo under Section 14 of the Pocso Act for video-recording their act. An additional fine of Rs 10,000 each was also levied under the same section, failing to pay which would extend their jail terms by six months. Under Section 363 of the Pocso Act, the duo was fined Rs 10,000 each and jailed for seven years (concurrent). Failing to pay the fine will increase the jail term by a year.
The case was filed at Chouparan police station in 2018. Public prosecutor Ajay Kumar Mandal said, “The girl was first kidnapped by the duo and then taken to Bihar where they raped and later sold her. Police had arrested the two on the basis of the girl’s statement before lodging a case and submitting a chargesheet in the court. About a dozen witnesses were produced in the court based on which the verdict was pronounced.”