Thane court sentences man to 10-year RI for raping minor girl

Thane, Jun 5 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for raping a 9-year-old girl in 2015, observing the crime is heinous.

The punishment should give a clear message to the society at large that perpetrators in such cases are "dealt with iron hand," special judge D S Deshmukh (for POCSO cases) said in the order on May 25, a copy of which was made available on Wednesday.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the 44-year-old accused, a man residing at Kashigaon in Mira Road area.

The judge ordered that the fine amount be paid to the victim and referred the case the District Legal Services Authority for compensation to the victim.

The accused was pronounced guilty under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Special public prosecutor Sandhya H Mhatre told the court that the victim had gone to the house of the accused in the neighbourhood on July 11, 2015 to watch television when he raped her.

When her parents searched for her, they found her weeping and walking out of the house of the accused.

Later, the victim informed about the incident to her parents who approached the police and filed the complaint.

In his order, the judge said the offence committed by the accused is heinous.

The minimum punishment for the offence is ten years and it should be imposed as provided in the POCSO Act, he said.

"The act of sexual assault on the child is to be viewed seriously and such offences are to be dealt in a stringent manner," the court said.

"Considering submissions of both the sides, behaviour of the accused during the trial and at present he is 44 years old and considering that since last almost nine years he is in jail, I take a lenient view and the following punishment would meet the ends of justice," the judge said. PTI COR MVG GK