Man sentenced to life for raping minor girl in Chhattisgarh

A special court in Chhattisgarh's Durg district has sentenced a 25-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old girl.

Fifth Additional District and Sessions Judge, Subhra Pachouri, on Thursday evening convicted the accused, Naveen Kumar Thakur, in the 2018 case.

While awarding life sentence, the judge observed that in view of circumstances of the case and increasing incidents of sexual offences against minor girls, the accused deserved no leniency, Additional Public Prosecutor Kamal Kishore Verma told PTI.

Thakur was convicted under sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The judge, who presided over the special POCSO court, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the accused, said Verma.

The incident took place on January 12, 2018, when the girl, a resident of Jamul in Durg district, had gone to visit her neighbour, where she was raped by Thakur, who was also visiting his friend there.

Thakur, a native of Arjunda village in Balod district, was a friend of the victim's neighbour in whose home the crime took place, he said.

The girl informed her mother after which a complaint was lodged with the police.

The accused was later arrested and a charge sheet was filed against him in the court on March 26 last year, the prosecutor said.