Lucknow: A special Pocso court in UP’s Shamli on Thursday awarded life sentence to a 26-year-old man for sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl after 18 hearings within a period of two months. Additional district and sessions judge (Pocso), Mumtaz Ali, also imposed a fine of Rs 21,000 on the convict.
District government counsel, Sanjay Chouhan, said, “The court’s decision was based on CCTV footage from the banquet hall that showed the accused committing the crime during a wedding event on June 26.”
Chouhan added, “A case was registered in the matter by the girl’s father under IPC sections 376AB (rape on woman under twelve years of age), 506 (criminal intimidation) and the Pocso Act at Adarsh Mandi police station. The accused was arrested within 24 hours of the incident.”
SP (Shamli) Abhishek (who goes by his first name) said, “The accused has a criminal record and had earlier been arrested for his involvement in theft cases. He probably gatecrashed the wedding with the same intention but fled after raping the minor.”
