Mumbai: 43-yr-old gets 10 years’ RI for raping minor

A SPECIAL court Wednesday sentenced a 43-year-old man to ten years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for raping a 12-year-old girl. The accused, Babu Karve, who lived in the same neighbourhood as the minor, had sexually abused her when she was alone in her house.

Special Judge Srishty Neelkanth found the accused guilty under Section 376 (rape), Section 354 (assault to outrage modesty of a woman), Section 452 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code as well as relevant sections under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The court relied on statements of nine witnesses, including the testimony of the child, for its verdict.

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After the sexual abuse in 2013, the accused had threatened the minor against revealing anything. In her testimony, the girl told the court that the accused had threatened her by claiming that he would murder her mother and brother if she informed anyone about the abuse. Afraid, she kept mum.

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The accused, however, had called on the victim’s mother’s phone to intimidate her further.

The woman then asked her daughter to speak to the accused while she heard the conversation on the speakerphone. She then approached the police.