2 get five years jail for kidnapping, molesting minor girl

Two men have been sentenced to five years in jail by a Delhi court for kidnapping and molesting a 11-year-old girl after pulling her into a moving van,with the court noting that such incidents are on the rise.
Kuldeep and Komal were held guilty of abducting, molesting and criminally intimidating the victim by the court, which said their intention was not to only molest her and it was likely that they would have raped or gangraped or killed her, if they were not caught by the public immediately.
"There is no doubt that the crime committed by the convicts is a very serious and heinous one. Though they have been convicted only under section 363 (kidnapping) and 354 (molestation) of the IPC for the reason that they were apprehended by the public immediately after they pulled the minor victim girl into their Maruti van and started molesting her before they could proceed any further, their conduct makes manifest that they could not have intended only to molest the minor girl.

"It is highly likely that she would have been raped or gangraped or raped as well as killed, in case the two convicts had not been apprehended by the public and the minor girl recovered from their Maruti van," Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said.
The court also said incidents of molestation and rape of minor girls are on the increase and the offenders indulging in such gruesome and barbaric acts need to be dealt with a heavy hand in order to send strong message to the society that the judiciary also takes these kind of offences very seriously.
The girl told the court that the incident took place in July 2011 when she was returning home in the afternoon after throwing garbage in a bin situated at some distance from her house and a van stopped near her.

The two men asked her to sit in the vehicle and they would give her chocolate and ice cream but when she refused, they forcibly dragged her in the van and tried to run flee.
Kuldeep and Komal molested and misbehaved with her, the minor told the court, adding that when she tried to raise an alarm, they threatened to kill her.