A man was awarded life imprisonment and his accomplice a ten-year jail term for kidnapping two minor tribal sisters in Korba district of Chhattisgarh under the pretext of taking them to Mumbai to meet film stars and raping them.
The special court judge Vijay Kumar Ekka yesterday pronounced Rajesh Goswami (24) and his friend Chandraprakash Sarathi alias Chandrakumar (22) guilty under various sections of the IPC, the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the POSCO Act.
While Goswami was handed down rigorous life imprisonment, Sarathi got ten years in jail, Public Prosecutor Ranjna Dutta said today.
The court also imposed fine of Rs 18,000 and Rs 12,000 on Goswami and Sarathi, respectively.
While Sarathi is a native of Balco police station area, Goswami stays in Pasaan, both in Korba district.
The incident had occurred in September, 2014, when Sarathi and Goswami lured the girls, who are natives of Jhagraha village, into accompanying them under the pretext of taking them to Mumbai on a tour where they would meet film stars.
However, the duo took the minor sisters to Ahmeadabad where they raped them for three months, Dutta said.
Goswami and Sarathi were arrested when they returned to Korba along with the girls in January 2015.
An FIR was registered against them under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 376 (2)(gangrape) of IPC and provisions of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act.
Feature Image Source: PTI (Representational)