Man sentenced to 10 years RI for raping girl in West Bengal

A POCSO court in West Bengal on Friday sentenced a man to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for raping a girl seven years ago.

The court of Judge Syed Niyazuddin Azad in Purba Burdwan district also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Saiful Khan and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victim.

Public prosecutor Shibram Ghosal said Khan had raped the girl, who was 15-year-old then, in Mangalkot area on March 29, 2013 and threatened her of dire consequences if she revealed the incident to anyone.

The girl became pregnant as result of the rape and urged Khan to marry her, which he refused to do, Ghosal said.

The victim gave birth to a girl on February 8, 2014 following which her father, a daily wager, lodged a complaint with the Mangalkot police station, after which Khan was arrested, he said.

A DNA test conducted by the Central Forensic Laboratory also confirmed that Khan was the biological father of the victim's daughter.

The chargesheet in the case was presented on June 23, 2014 and but Khan had got bail in a subsequent hearing, he said.