New Delhi: A youth has been sentenced to eight years in jail for kidnapping and raping a minor girl by a Delhi court which said he betrayed her friendship.
Additional Sessions Judge T R Naval awarded the jail term to 21-year-old Bihar native Shahnawaj Alam, saying police has been able to prove that the convict had enticed the girl and took her away without the consent of her guardian and established sexual relations with her against her will.
"...It would be just and appropriate if deterrent view in sentence is taken. Accordingly, convict Shahnawaz Alam is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for eight years for the offences under the IPC," the court said.
It also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him, stating that if realised, Rs 10,000 be given as compensation to the victim.
The court said the evidence has established that the girl, who was less than 18 years at the time of incident in 2011, was not a consenting party.
"Rather, the evidence has established that it is a clear case of betrayal of friendship which she developed with Alam during the past three months from the date of incident," it said.
According to the prosecution, the girl`s brother-in-law and sister approached the police on August 1, 2011 saying the minor is missing and they raised suspicion over Alam.
After two weeks, the girl and the accused were caught at a railway station here by the police and Alam was arrested.
The girl told the court that Alam was her neighbour and they knew each other. On the day of incident, he called her downstairs on the pretext of some work and took her to a house in Nangloi. Her family members were sleeping at the time.
After six days, he took her to Bihar where on seeing a police officer, she told him that Alam had forcibly brought her there, she told the court, adding that from there they came to Delhi where they were apprehended by Delhi Police.
Alam said he was implicated in the case as the girl, who was 17 years and three months old, was on the verge of attaining majority and had accompanied him of her own will.
The court, however, said the girl was a minor at the time of the incident and even if it is presumed that she willingly accompanied him, it will not give any benefit to him.
PTI
