GHAZIABAD: A special court here on Friday sentenced a man to seven years in jail for raping a minor girl eight years ago and leaving her with a six-month pregnancy.
Special Judge Piyush Tiwari of a court set up under the POCSO Act convicted and sentenced Sahibabad resident Amzad despite the victim claiming that she was 18-year-old at the time of the alleged rape.
Turning hostile to the prosecution case, she also pleaded with the court that she wanted to live with Amzad as she had been living with his family since his arrest in June 2014, Special Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Bakharva said.
The court, however, sentenced the man to seven years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 ignoring the victim's pleas and after ascertaining that she was only 17 years old at the time of her rape, he added.
The court, however, giving the convict the benefit of section 428 of the Criminal Procedure Code, set off Amzad's sentence against the period of his detention that he underwent during the trial as he was never granted bail after his arrest in June 2014.
The victim's father who had lodged the complaint of her daughter's rape had died during the trial, he said, adding the court asked the convict to give Rs 35,000 out of the fine to the victim.