Man gets 7-yr-jail term for kidnapping, raping minor girl

A Delhi court today awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment to a 30-year-old man for raping and impregnating a minor girl as it rejected his contention that they were married, observing it was invalid as he already had a wife and children.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajneesh Kumar Gupta awarded the jail term to the convict, a native of Bihar, and also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 on him.
In its order, the court also rejected his contention about the girl's consent in establishing physical relations, saying it was "immaterial" as she was below 16 years of age.
"Even for the sake of arguments, if it is presumed that the girl had married the accused (man), then also this marriage is not valid as he was already having a wife and three children, which is evident from the victim's testimony," the court said.

It also noted that the girl had taken contradictory stands during the trial saying that she went with the man willingly without any threat or force, but later retracted her statement in the court and said that he had forcibly taken her.
"The consent of the victim as to sexual intercourse with the accused is immaterial as she is below of 16 years of age," it said, while awarding jail term for offences of kidnapping and raping under the IPC.

According to police, on December 23, 2011, girl's father lodged a missing report about her as she was untraceable since December 8, 2011 and he told the police that he suspected the man who might have enticed her before kidnapping.

The girl was traced on February 3, 2012 from Samastipur in Bihar, and after medical examination, she was found to be pregnant, it said, adding that the man was arrested 10 days later.
The court also relied on the girl's medical report which revealed that the accused was the father of her aborted child.
"In the DNA report... It has been concluded that accused is the biological father of the aborted foetus of the girl," it said.
The man, however, submitted before the court that he was falsely implicated in the case by the girl. He also alleged that she was above 18 years of age and was in love with him.