Youth gets 5 yrs in jail for kidnapping and marrying minor

Additional Sessions Judge Vijay Kumar Dahiya sentenced Bihar native Guddu Ram, saying he seduced the minor and forced her to sign documents to prove the marriage to be legal.

"The convict has seduced the minor victim and forcibly made her sign documents to prove the alleged marriage to be legal.

"Keeping in view the fact that the offender has committed crime against the victim, who happens to be a child and that it is to be dealt with a firm hand, I am of the opinion that convict does not deserve any leniency...," the court said, while also imposing a fine of Rs 5,000 on Guddu.

Guddu was arrested by the Bihar police after the victim's elder brother, a scrap-dealer, had lodged a complaint with the police here in January 2011 that his minor sister has gone missing from their house in West Delhi.

In his complaint, the victim's brother had said Guddu and his friend had taken the girl with them telling her that her maternal uncle had met with an accident.

They had kidnapped the girl and took her to Guddu's native place, where she was kept captive, the prosecution later told the court adding Guddu married the girl after 20-25 days.

The court held Guddu guilty of kidnapping the girl and compelling her to marry him.

It also said "The prosecution has proved victim was minor on date of incident and she was recovered from custody of the accused. The prosecution has proved that accused had kidnapped the victim, for purpose of seducing or forcing her to illicit intercourse," the court added.