Chandigarh: 73-year-old Ambala man jailed for raping 11-year-old girl

Chandigarh: A court in Ambala has sentenced a 73-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl in 2018. The victim an 11-year-old girl had said in her police complaint that the crime took place when she had gone to buy groceries from the convict’s store, as reported by the Hindustan Times.

During the judgment, the fast-track court of additional sessions judge Aarti Singh held the assailant identified as Harbans Lal guilty under Sections 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A fine of ₹40,000 was also imposed on him, as reported by the Hindustan Times.

The sexual assault complaint has been registered by the victim on July 25, 2018. She had mentioned that while she was at the grocery store, the elderly convict had kissed her and touched her private parts, before raping her. “He also threatened me of dire consequences if this was disclosed to my parents. I wrote a note and gave it to my mother. Later, I told her everything,” she informed the police as reported by the Hindustan Times.

In a similarly shocking incident earlier this week, the police have launched a search operation to nab an unidentified man who allegedly abducted a seven-year-old girl from the Pune Railway Station area and sexually abused her in a closed office space.

Police said that they have launched a search based on a sketch of the suspect. The incident took place Monday afternoon.

Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the man, who is yet to be identified, took her to a closed office of the inspector of works which is next to a platform of the Pune railway station, reported The Indian Express.

The man then allegedly sexually abused her and also threatened to harm her. The minor girl somehow managed to escape from the premises and narrated to her family what had happened after she reached home, officials added.

Following this, the parents of the minor approached Bundgarden police station and an FIR was registered in connection with the incident.