In Jhalawar, Rajasthan, a special court has sentenced three convicts to 20 years in prison for kidnapping and raping a minor girl three years ago. The special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court delivered its verdict on Thursday, and the convicts, identified as Pappu Singh (32), Narayan Singh (29), and Govindlal Meghwal (22), all residents of Jhalawar district, were also fined Rs 65,000 each.
According to the Public Prosecutor Ramhetar Gurjar, the incident took place on June 1, 2020, when the minor girl and her parents reported a case of gangrape against the three individuals. They had abducted her while she was out in the fields for urination and took her to a remote location, where they raped her in turns. The next morning, they left her near a roadside eatery.
The police registered a case against the perpetrators under sections 363 (kidnapping), 376(3) (repeatedly raping the same woman) of the Indian Penal Code, and relevant provisions of the POCSO Act. Following an initial investigation, the three men were arrested on June 11, 2020, and have been in judicial custody since then.
During the trial, the POCSO court heard statements from 33 witnesses and considered 44 documents as evidence. After the thorough proceedings, Judge Vinod Kumar Giri found Pappu Singh, Narayan Singh, and Govindlal Meghwal guilty of abduction and gangrape and sentenced each of them to 20 years in prison along with the imposed fine of Rs 65,000 each.
