Noida, Feb 9 (PTI) An 18-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a court in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh which convicted him of raping a three-year-old girl in 2020 when he was a juvenile.

The convict has also been slapped with a penalty of Rs 40,000 by Additional Sessions Judge of the special POCSO court Chandra Mohan Srivastava on Wednesday.

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At the time of the incident, the accused was aged 16 years and he was taken into custody the same day the matter was reported to the police by the girl's family in June 2020. The girl had gone to her neighbour's home for tuition but her teacher's brother had sexually assaulted her.

When the girl recounted the incident to her parents and told them about pain in her genitals, the family approached the local Dadri police station and an FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code section 376 (rape) and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

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Charges were also lodged under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act but were later dropped during trial in the court for lack of evidence.

Arguing for the accused, advocate Haribhushan Giri sought leniency in punishment from the court citing his client's age of 18 years and 8 months and that it was his first offence. He added that the accused is a student and about to take his intermediate examinations.

However, special public prosecutor Jai Prakash Bhati argued that "fingering the vagina" and "aggravated penetrative sexual assault" on the 3-year-old girl is a heinous crime and reflected the "polluted mindset" of the accused, who should be given strictest punishment.

In his order, Justice Srivastava noted that, "the juvenile has not only committed a social crime of disgusting and heinous nature but also committed a crime which puts society to shame and tarnishes relations and mutual trust among people."

"At this time, the accused's age is 18 years and 8 months. Hence, on the basis of the facts, situation, the arguments made besides the nature of the crime and the plight of the victim, the punishment to the accused is justified," the judge stated.

While announcing the 20 years prison term and Rs 40,000 penalty to the accused, the judge also remarked that he would have to serve an additional six months terms if he fails to deposit the fine amount.

The judge said tenure spent by the juvenile in correction home and district jail will be included in the prison term.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)