KOTA: A court here on Saturday sentenced a 34-year-old man to life imprisonment for abducting and raping the 16-year-old daughter of his landlord two years ago.
Judge Deepak Dubey convicted Nepu alias Sajid (34) under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the crime that occurred in August 2020, Public Prosecutor Lalit Kumar Sharma said.
The POCSO court also imposed a fine of Rs 85000 on the convict, he said. The culprit's wife had died and he along with his four-year-old son lived in rented accommodation.
The landlord's minor daughter, a class nine student, would frequently visit his room to play with this son, Sharma said.
The culprit lured the minor girl and took her to Indore, where he repeatedly raped her for two days, he alleged. The girl's mother lodged a complaint on August 17, 2020 after which the police rescued the minor from Indore.
Based on her statement, the police incorporated sections of rape under IPC and POCSO Act in the FIR against the accused and arrested him.
However, he was later released on bail, the public prosecutor said.
The judgement was to be pronounced on Friday but the accused fled from the court premises after the lunch hour following which the judge issued an arrest warrant against him. The police nabbed the culprit from the railway station area hours later and produced him before the judge on Saturday.