Thane: Man gets 20 years for rape and kidnap of 16-year-old

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A sessions court on Monday convicted a 26-year-old man for kidnapping and raping a teenage girl from Kalyan in Thane district in 2019, and sentenced him to 20 years rigorous imprisonment. Additional sessions court judge AR Ashturkar also imposed a Rs 8,000 fine on the accused Deepak alias Gabru Sonawane and ordered that the amount be paid to the victim towards compensation.

The judge referred the matter to DLSA (District Legal Service Authority) for the payment of compensation under the state government's Manodhairya Scheme or any other related scheme. The Manodhairya scheme offers compensation ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh to victims of sexual assault, rape, child sexual abuse and acid attacks in the state.

Sonawane was convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Sachin Kulkarni told the court that Sonawane and the victim girl, who was 16 years old at the time of the incident five years ago, were residents of the same locality in Kalyan. The grandmother of the girl, a Std X student, dropped her to the private coaching class on the evening of July 13, 2019, the APP said.

When she didn't return home, a case of kidnapping was lodged with Khadakpada police station by the victim's mother. Police launched an investigation and arrested Sonawane under various sections of the Indian Penal Code on charges of rape and kidnapping and the POSCO Act. A total of nine prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial, Kulkarni said. "The judge stated that the prosecution has proved all charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt for which he needs to be convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 20 years," he added.

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