India: Man gets 10 years RI for raping minor

Thane, Jan 28 (PTI) The district court here convicted and sentenced a 37-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a 17-year-old girl.

District and POCSO judge Hemant Patwardhan held Nagesh Vatore guilty of rape on charges under the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

In his order on Tuesday, the judge held that the prosecution, lead by additional public prosecutor Vijay Munde, had proven all charges levelled against the accused.

The APP informed the court that the victim used to live with her mother at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, where the accused got acquainted with them and offered them an accommodation at Diva in Maharashtra's Thane district.

However, following a quarrel with the accused, the victim's mother left the house, while the victim stayed behind, the APP said.

In January-February 2017, the accused raped the victim repeatedly, as a result of which the girl became pregnant and later delivered a child, he said.

The victim subsequently filed a police complaint after the accused refused to marry her, following which Vatore was arrested, Munde said.

The accused, who was unmarried at the time of the incident, later tied a knot another girl from his hometown, he added.