Gondal man gets 7 years in jail for raping minor

A local court in Gondal town of Rajkot district on Wednesday sentenced a man to seven years in prison for kidnapping and raping a minor girl in 2011,but let off another person for lack of evidence.

Court of Additional Sessions Judge B S Thakkar pronounced prime accused Dinesh Dholakiya,a farm labourer,guilty of abducting and raping the 16-year-old girl and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment. However,the court gave benefit of doubt to Pravin Dholakiya,another accused who faced charges of abetting the crime,and cleared him of all charges for lack of evidence.

According to details of the case,Dinesh had first lured the girl out of her home in Vavdi no Vido village in Gondal taluka on the night of September 26,2009 by promising to marry her. However,later he kidnapped the minor,took her to Surat,Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and raped her several times. Her father filed a complaint at Gondal taluka police and the girl was rescued from Kherdi village in Gandhinagar district and the accused duo were arrested.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 9,000 on Dinesh.