Delhi: Man gets 10-year jail term for kidnapping, raping minor girl

New Delhi: A man, who raped a 13-year-old girl twice in a factory after kidnapping her, has been sent to jail for 10 years by a Delhi court.

The court awarded rigorous jail term to Chhedi Paswan, saying prosecution has proved the case beyond doubt.

The court took a lenient view and awarded the minimum sentence of 10 years jail to the man, who was in custody since his arrested in February 2013, prescribed for raping a woman when she is less than 16 years of age. Paswan used to live in a factory in east Delhi where he was working.

"It is proved on record that accused had kidnapped the victim, wrongfully confined her for a night in a factory room and committed rape/penetrative sexual assault twice upon her," Additional Sessions Judge Ashwani Kumar Sarpal said.

The court also said the testimony of the victim was reliable, convincing and trustworthy and the forensic report also confirmed that the girl was subjected to sexual assault by him.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 11,000 on Paswan and said it shall be given as compensation to the child.

It also directed the Delhi Legal Service Authority to pay appropriate compensation to the victim who belongs to a poor family, for the mental torture and agony she has suffered.

A missing complaint for the girl was lodged by her mother on February 11, 2013, alleging that she had gone to market the previous day but had not returned home.

During investigation, the police searched the factory premises situated in front of the victim's house and the minor was found lying there wrapped in a blanket. The man was arrested from the spot.

The girl told the court that on the day of incident, her parents had gone to a hospital and accused took her to the factory premises on the pretext that there was a call for her on his mobile phone.

When she went there to attend the phone call, the man misbehaved with her to which she objected and sought to leave.

The man then gagged and raped her twice and left her in the factory room after wrapping her in the blanket, she said.

Due to suffocation, she fell unconscious and was rescued the next morning by her family members and the police.

During the trial, the man claimed he was falsely implicated due to a quarrel between him and the girl's mother a few days before the incident.

The judge rejected his plea saying he took inconsistent and different defence at various stages and the changes in his stand pointed towards his guilt as well as tendency to mislead the court.