A court here on Thursday sentenced two men to life imprisonment in the rape case of a 16-year-old girl in a hotel room in Jaipur over three years ago, a public prosecutor said.
A POCSO court here convicted Ravi Kumar Punia (38), resident of Kasni village in Jhanjunu district, and his aide Rupesh (28) of Thothi village of the same district, public prosecutor Lalit Kumar Sharma said.
The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 35000 on Kumar and Rs 30,000 on Rupesh, he said.
The incident took place in September 2020, Sharma said.
According to the minor's statement, Kumar had befriended her on social media, following which they started talking over phone, the prosecutor said.
She alleged that Kumar lured her and took her to Jaipur by a car owned by Rupesh, who was also accompanied them on July 5, 2020, he said.
The teenager claimed Kumar raped her in a hotel room in Jaipur, while Rupesh helped him. Kumar promised to marry the girl but left Jaipur after dropping her at one of his friend's house from where she later returned to Kota on July 13, 2020, the prosecutor said.
Meanwhile, Kumar stopped attending her calls and the girl eventually approached the police. During the commission of the crime, Kumar was 34-year-old and already had children, Sharma said.
Kumar and Rupesh were arrested under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he added.
The POCSO court on Thursday held Kumar and Rupesh guilty in the case and based on the statements of 17 witnesses and relevant documents, the prosecutor said.
