Pune Crime Files: How the ‘uncle’ who raped two minor nieces got 20 years rigorous imprisonment

Following an FIR lodged on November 21, 2020, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, the Pune police moved swiftly to arrest the accused and file a chargesheet by January 2021.

The key evidence in the prosecution included lodge registers and Aadhaar card copies belonging to the accused from two hotels, testimony by a medical officer from the government-run Sassoon Hospital that confirmed vaginal penetration, and age proofs were verified through the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to confirm the victims were minors at the time of the offence.

During the trial, the defence attempted to discredit the girls by arguing they had since entered into “marriages” with friends despite being minors and that a girl was pregnant by her husband at the time she gave her testimony.

However, the prosecution examined ten witnesses to prove the offence “beyond reasonable doubt”. The court dismissed the defence’s claims, noting that the testimony of the girls, their mother, aunt, medical officer, the hotel owner, registrar of births and deaths, a panch witness and the investigating officer, was “consistent, corroborative to each other, free from infirmities and inconsistencies”.

In the final order dated April 11, 2026, the court found the accused guilty. Along with the 20-year sentence of rigorous imprisonment, the court imposed a fine of Rs 30,000.