BAREILLY: A juvenile convicted of gang rape was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was tried as an adult for raping a 14-year-old girl in a field in Budaun in 2017 with two friends. The man, 17 at the time of the assault, pleaded not guilty, while the two co-accused had earlier confessed and were convicted by a juvenile court.Special Pocso court judge Dinesh Tiwari considered the convict’s age while awarding the sentence. Public prosecutor Atul Singh told TOI, “The survivor, a Class 7 student, was returning home when she was stopped by the three near a cremation ground. They dragged her to a nearby crop field and took turns raping her. She lost consciousness during the assault. After regaining consciousness, she returned home but initially did not tell anyone.“She revealed the incident to her mother the following day. The family then approached the police, and an FIR was registered. All three accused were found to be minors during the investigation. Additional district govt counsel Amol Jauhari said, “Two of the accused pleaded guilty and were sentenced by the juvenile court. The third claimed he had been falsely implicated because of his close association with the others.“Jauhari added, “The survivor’s testimony, her medical report, and the confessions of the co-accused helped secure conviction. The court awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000. As the convict was a minor at the time, he was sentenced under section 21 of the Juvenile Justice Act, which bars life imprisonment without the possibility of release. He received the minimum punishment under sections 5 and 6 of the Pocso Act.”
