6-Year-Old's Testimony Nails Her Rapist, He's Sentenced To 20-Year Jail

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl in 2021, relying on the deposition of the six-year-old survivor and other prosecution witnesses.

Special POCSO court judge DS Deshmukh, in the order passed on Wednesday, also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the 47-year-old accused, Pandurang Shelar.

The judge directed that the fine amount be paid to the survivor towards compensation and also referred the case to the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) for payment of additional compensation as per provisions of the law.

Police havildar Vidyasagar Koli, who assisted the prosecution in the court, said six prosecution witnesses were examined in the case.

The deposition of the survivor, now aged 6, nailed the accused and helped prove the case beyond all reasonable doubts, resulting in the conviction of the accused, he said.

On January 8, 2021, the accused lured the girl, who was playing, to come to his house and later raped her. He also threatened her with dire consequences if she informed about the offence to anyone, the prosecution said.

In his order, the judge noted that the prosecution has successfully proved all the charges against the accused for which he needs to be convicted and sentenced.

The accused was found guilty on various charges under the Indian Penal Code, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
 

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