C'garh: Four sentenced to 30 years for raping minor

A court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district sentenced four men to 30 years' imprisonment for repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl.

Third additional district and sessions judge Sanjeev Kumar Tamak on Friday convicted Charan Singh (30), Ishwar Dhurv (31), Nageshwar Rajak (26) and Manoj Wadekar (35), the victim's lawyer Priyanka Shukla said.

The court sentenced the accused to 30 years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 21,000 on Singh, and Rs 50,000 each on the other three convicts, she said.

On February 20, 2017, the victim, a resident of Torwa here, had lodged a complaint against the accused for allegedly raping her repeatedly since 2015, Shukla said.

The accused, who are residents of Devrikhurd area, had recorded an obscene video of the victim and sexually assaulted her after threatening to make the video public, she said.

The accused were allegedly involved in the illegal sale of liquor in the area, she added.

The Torwa police had registered a case against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, she added.