Thane: A court here in Maharashtra has awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment to a 32-year-old man for raping a woman on the pretext of marriage.
District Judge G P Shirsat, in his order on Thursday, also imposed a fine of Rs 35,000 on the accused, Navinkumar Premshankar Tiwari.
The judge ordered that out of the total fine amount, Rs 30,000 be given as compensation to the 30-year-old victim.
The accused’s parents, Premshankar Tiwari (56) and Sunayana Tiwari (50) were acquitted after the court gave them benefit of doubt.
Additional Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale told the court that the accused, a resident of Khopoli in neighbouring Raigad district, and the victim worked together since 2008 in a catering firm at Kurla where they became friends and got into a relationship.
The accused promised to marry the woman following which both of them started living together in a rented room in Diva area of Thane. However, they later separated and returned to the homes of their respective parents.
During the time they were together, the accused raped the woman on several occasions on the pretext of marriage, the prosecution said, adding that he also took Rs 95,000 and items like gold jewellery and mobile phone from the victim.
On March 8, 2014, the accused called the victim to his house in Khopoli where his parents were present. The three abused the woman over her caste and beat her, Hiwrale said.
The accused also refused to marry the woman following which she filed a police complaint.
