India News | Noida: Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a schoolgirl

Noida, July 21 (PTI) – A local court has sentenced a Noida-based businessman to 10 years in prison for kidnapping and sexually abusing his minor neighbour three years ago.

Vikas Nagar, Additional Sessions Judge and Special Judge, POCSO Act (First), Gautam Buddh Nagar, also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on convict Prashant Kumar, who owned a garment shop.

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The minor victim, then 14 years old and a student of Class 9, was allegedly lured away by Kumar in April 2021, following which her father approached the local Expressway police station to file a complaint, which led to the FIR and the arrest of the accused.

The court convicted Kumar under Section 366 of the Indian Penal Code (abduction or abduction of a woman with the intent to compel her to marry or to have illicit sexual intercourse) and Section 4 (sexual abuse of a child by penetration) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, according to the judgment delivered on Saturday.

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Arguing for the accused, lawyer Dharmendra Pal Singh stated that Kumar was the sole breadwinner of his family and had no previous convictions apart from this case, which is why he demanded a minimum sentence.

Special Public Prosecutor Jai Prakash Bhati stated that the convict had committed a “very serious offence” and did not deserve any leniency from the court.

After considering the respective submissions of the parties, Justice Nagar convicted Kumar under Section 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 4 of the POCSO Act, but not under Section 376 of the IPC (rape), observing that “both the offences are prescribed the same punishment under the law”.

“Convict Prashant Kumar is sentenced to undergo imprisonment for ten years and to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 for violating Section 4 of the POCSO Act. In case of default of payment of fine, the convict shall undergo additional simple imprisonment for a term of six months,” he ordered.

“The convict Prashant Kumar is sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a term of three years and to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 for violation of Section 366 IPC. In case of non-payment of the fine, the convict shall additionally undergo simple imprisonment for a term of one month,” the order further said.

The court explained that the time the convicted person had already spent in prison during the trial had to be counted towards the sentence originally imposed on him. As both crimes were committed consecutively, both sentences would therefore be served concurrently.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the syndicated news feed. LatestLY team may not have modified or edited the content.)