Chandigarh, September 28: A 16-year-old rape victim whose two-month-old foetus was aborted around this time last year finally got justice on the eve of International Safe Abortion Day.
The court of additional district and sessions judge Poonam R Joshi on Thursday sentenced 23-year-old Pappu Kumar Thakur of Burail village to 10 years jail for kidnapping, raping and impregnating the girl, who was 15-year-old at the time of the incident last August.
Pappu has also been directed to pay Rs 1.08 lakh fine, of which Rs 1 lakh will go to the victim as compensation.
He was found guilty under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
A Class 9 student at a local government school at the time of the incident, the girl had to drop out as she felt embarrassed, she told HT over phone after the conviction. Scolded and victimised by her parents frequently, she had requested court to send her to Ashiana, a children’s home.
The girl stayed there for some time, but decided to return home when she realised she had done nothing wrong but was in fact wronged by Pappu.
“He had fooled me. He was already married and had a kid. Later, I decided to continue with my studies I’m pursuing Class 10 through an open board.”
On August 21 last year, the victim’s mother had approached police to report that she was missing since August 16.
On September 11, the woman again approached police along with the girl. The girl said Pappu had taken her to Mohali, where he raped her for five days before dropping her back.
Source Hindustan Times
