Palghar: A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court here for kidnapping and raping a four-year-old girl in 2017. Special Judge A U Kadam also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the accused, Ghanashyam Gupta, a resident of Vasai here in Maharashtra. The judge recently convicted Gupta under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code. The judge also ordered that the victim be paid compensation by the District Legal Aid Services.
During the trial, assistant public prosecutor Kadambini Khandagale had told the court the crime took place when the victim's family had come to the house of a relative. On June 23, 2017, when the victim was playing outside the house, the accused, a labourer, wooed her by giving her sweets and chocolates, and took her to an isolated place where he raped her, the prosecutor said. Subsequently, the four-year-old girl's family filed a police complaint and the accused was arrested. Gupta was booked under POCSO and IPC for rape and kidnapping. Delivering the verdict, the court said the prosecution has successfully proved all charges against the accused.
