Varanasi:A fast track court in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Thursday awarded Maulana Jarjis, accused of repeatedly raping a woman, a 10-year jail term. The cleric, who got acquainted with the victim at a religious conference back in 2013, has additionally been sentenced to a one-year as well as a two-year jail term.
"Today, the court has sentenced Maulana Jarjis to 10 years in jail under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as a one-year sentence under IPC 504 and a two-year sentence under IPC 506. There has been an additional fine of Rs 10,000. All charges will run parallelly, and failure to pay the fine will result in further six-month imprisonment," advocate Awadhesh Kumar Singh, representing the prosecution earlier in the case, said.
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The victim learned about an impending event of Maulana Jarjis in 2013 and contacted him. She wanted to speak to him to solve some issues. The former, after meeting her, brought her to the hotel where he was staying and raped her, the former informed.
"He had filmed a video of the act. When the woman resisted, he threatened her to make the video viral. Subsequently, he continued raping her till 2015. According to the victim's statement, on November 19, 2015, he raped her at her residence. Throughout this time, he promised to marry her," Singh further noted.
After the victim sent a letter detailing the events to SSP, Varanasi, a police complaint against the cleric was lodged on January 17, 2016, at the Jaitpura Police Station in the district. On March 4, the same year, an FIR under the aforementioned sections was registered against the Maulana. While exiting court premises, meanwhile, the accused said on Thursday that he would take the matter before the High Court.