Two men sentenced to 20 years' RI for raping teenager in 2021

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Nov 13 (PTI) A special POCSO court in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district has sentenced two men to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl and threatening to circulate her obscene photos online, officials said on Thursday.

Special Judge Seema Verma, pronouncing the judgment on Wednesday, also imposed a fine of Rs 55,000 each on the convicts, identified as Guddu and his friend Sagar.

The court found them guilty under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, sections of the Information Technology Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

District Government Counsel (DGC) Sanjay Chauhan said the incident took place in May 2021 in Jhinjhana police station area, where the two accused raped a 16-year-old girl and took obscene photographs of her. They threatened to post them online.

Later, they circulated the images, leading to the cancellation of the girl's engagement, he added.

After examining the evidence and hearing the arguments from both sides, the court convicted Guddu and Sagar, holding their actions as a serious violation of the victim's dignity and privacy. The court sentenced them to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine. PTI COR ABN HIG