Man gets 7 years in jail for kidnapping, raping girl

A district court sentenced a 28-year-old man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a girl, an official said on Saturday.

District Judge P P Jadhav convicted Shahrukh alias Sajid Mohammad Mustikim Shaikh under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

On October 18, he sentenced the man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000. However, the court order was released on Friday.

Three others, who were tried for abetting the crime, were acquitted for want of sufficient evidence.

In his submission, the prosecutor told the court that the girl, a native of Jammu and Kashmir, was 16 years old at the time of the incident and lived with her parents at Kashimira in Maharashtra's Thane district.

On October 16, 2014, the class 11 student did not return home from college, following which her parents filed a missing person's complaint with the local police, the prosecution stated.

The next day, some neighbours informed the parents that Shahrukh had kidnapped the girl.

When her parents failed to locate the girl, a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code was registered, police had said.

According to the prosecution, the girl was spotted at Lucknow railway station in Uttar Pradesh and rescued by the Mira Road police on February 4, 2015.

The girl told police that Shahrukh had kidnapped her and taken her to a factory in the western suburb of Borivali, where he raped her.

Later, Shahrukh had taken her to Lucknow, cut off her hair and confined her to a room, police added.