Man gets 20 years rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping, raping teenage girl in 2019

A special court in Maharashtra's Thane on Saturday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl in 2019. Special judge Ruby U Malvankar, hearing cases pertaining to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sentenced 31-year-old Sagar Suresh Dethe. As per the case details, the victim went missing from her home on the eve of Christmas in 2019. After a 51-day manhunt, the police team finally tracked down the accused and the teenage girl at Karjat in Raigad district in February 2020. The accused had lured the victim under a false promise of marriage, and both of them were living there pretending to be a couple. During the trial, special public prosecutor advocate A B Patil Bhamre examined a total of 18 witnesses. The court found Dethe guilty under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the POCSO Act. Besides sentencing the accused to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him. The judge recommended the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in Thane to award compensation under the Manodhairya Scheme.