Thane: A Thane court has awarded 10 years’ imprisonment to a 23-year-old man for raping a teenager, observing that the accused was not entitled to be acquitted merely because the victim turned hostile. Special court judge Kavita D Shirbhate, in her order last week, held the accused, Kishore Bhide, guilty under the Indian Penal Code Section 376 (rape) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The prosecution told the court that the victim, then aged 15 years, complained of stomachache on April 5, 2016, following which her parents took her to a hospital where doctors found that she was two months’ pregnant. When her parents enquired, the girl revealed that she was in a physical relationship with a driver from Turbhe area in Navi Mumbai since seven-eight months. Later, the girl’s parents filed a complaint against the accused.
