The two have been fined Rs 1 lakh each by the court (Representational)
A special POCSO court near Kota in Rajasthan on Tuesday sentenced two men to life term each for kidnapping and raping two teenaged girls over five years ago.
Baran Special Judge Rakesh Katara also imposed a fine of Rs 1 Lakh each on convicts Naresh Panchal, 25, and Sheru alias Shahid, 24, holding them guilty of kidnapping, wrongfully confining and raping the two minor girls in March 2015.
Special Public Prosecutor Mahesh Tyagi said the case against the two was lodged on March 21, 2015 on the complaint of the father of one of the girls.
In his complaint, the girl's father told the police that his 15-year-old daughter had gone missing along with her 16-year-old friend from their homes.
He also alleged that the two girls are suspected to have been kidnapped by their neighbours Naresh Panchal and Sheru as the girls were last seen with them.
The police subsequently registered an FIR against the two under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for kidnapping a woman to induce or compel her for marriage and took up the investigation.
The two girls were subsequently traced after around two months from two separate places in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and the two accused were arrested.
Following the arrests, the police also added sections for rape and sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Mahesh Tyagi said.
The court also sentenced the two to 10 and seven years in jail respectively for kidnapping and wrongfully confining the two teenaged girls, said Mr Tyagi.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)