Surat: A special court in Surat has sentenced two men for raping minor girls in separate cases and sentenced them to 20 years imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
In the first case, the court sentenced Savan Vasava to 20 years in jail for the abduction and rape of an 11-year-old girl in 2019. The court has also ordered the accused to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the victim.
Government advocate Nayan Bhai said, "Vasava, who was 19 years old then, had kidnapped the minor girl from her home in Ichhapore police station limits with a promise of marriage. He raped her at an abandoned building. Meanwhile, the family members of the minor approached the police after she went missing. Later, the girl was found near her home. She narrated the whole incident to her parents. Based on the complaint filed by the minor's parents, the police registered a case and arrested Vasava."
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In the second case, the court sentenced Sachin Kanta Rajbhar (21) to 20 years imprisonment for the abduction and rape of an eight-year-old girl in September 2020. The court convicted Rajbhar on Wednesday and ordered a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the victim and her family.
According to advocate Sukhad Vala, "Rajbhar had abducted the girl from her house in the Sachin GIDC area and took her to Maharashtra's Kolhapur. Rajbhar raped the minor several times on the pretext of marriage. The girl however managed to escape and was found by locals who sent her to a shelter home. The girl provided the contact details of her father to the authorities of the shelter home following which they contacted her father in March 2021. The victim's father approached the police and lodged a complaint against Rajbhar and soon after the police arrested the accused."
