Pocso Act court awards 7-year jail term to man for rape of minor

KANPUR: Additional special judge, Pocso Act court Surendra Pal Singh on Tuesday sentenced accused Sanjay Soni alias Amit to 7 years rigorous imprisonment and with a fine of Rs 4500 for kidnapping and physically exploiting minor girl.
The court in its order observed that the accused would have to undergo another one-month term in jail if he failed to pay the fine. The period which he had spent in jail would be adjusted in the sentence, the court said.
On the quantum of sentence, the defence counsel pleaded that accused Sanjay had married the victim with the consent of her family and that they have an issue who is one-and- a-half-year-old, therefore the court should award a minimum sentence to him. The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that the accused had committed the offence of kidnapping and physically exploiting a minor girl, therefore, he should be punished with a maximum sentence.
According to special public prosecutor Pocso Act Bhawana Gupta, the complainant, father of the victim, had lodged the FIR at the Bithoor police station. He alleged that on June 15, 2018, the victim and her younger sister had gone to village Sahjora to attend a marriage party. The victim had sent her younger sister home with a message for her father that she would reach the village afterwards.
When did not return, her father contacted Sanjay Soni’s brother who assured him that her daughter would come back in a couple of days but she did not return. When he again contacted Sanjay’s brother, he abused him and used casteist remarks.
During the trial, the victim stated in her evidence that she had willingly gone to Sanjay’s house, and later they married at Shobhan Temple. She said that after marriage they had established physical relationship with each other and that Sanjay had not kidnapped her. At that time, she was 16 years old, she stated. According to the special public prosecutor, the victim and the complainant both had turned hostile during the trial but the court coveted the accused because the victim was a minor.