KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, March 21: The court of additional district judge-cum-special court POCSO, Sanjay Kumar Upadhyay on Monday sentenced a 26-year-old youth to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
Besides this, the court has slapped the convict Rajesh Gope with a penalty of Rs 35,000, failing to pay which he will have to undergo additional three years and three months imprisonment. The penalty amount if paid by the convict will go to the victim for meeting her medical expenses.
Rajesh Gope had on September 21, 2021 abducted a 13-year-old girl from her house at Panchvati Nagar in Sonari on the pretext of marrying her. Having abducted the minor, the convict who would live in the same locality had raped her.
After the disappearance of the girl from the house, the victim’s father had lodged an FIR with the Sonari police station, leading the police to launch a drive to trace the girl. The victim was, however, recovered from a place in Sonari by Childline five days later.
Later on, the statement made by the victim, the police had arrested Rajesh Gope. According to the prosecution, there were seven witnesses, including the investigating officer in the case.
