Observing that the convicts do not deserve any leniency as they had committed a "horrific" crime, Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg sentenced Zaheer Alam to 10 year in jail and his wife Reshma to 7 years imprisonment for kidnapping the 13-year-old girl and taking her out of Delhi where she was repeatedly raped by the man for over ten days.
"A recent report by Asian Centre for Women Rights says that incidents of child rape have multiplied in the last decade. The recent horrific incidents of rape have created a furore in the society.
"It appears across the nation the childhood is at risk. The children of this age are vulnerable and are easy prey to such sexual assaults," the judge observed.
The court held Zaheer guilty under the Indian Penal Code for the offences of kidnapping with an intent to confine a person and rape. It convicted Reshma for the offences of kidnapping with an intent to confine a person and abetment of rape.
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The police obtained Zaheer's mobile number and rescued the girl after over ten days from Ludhiana, where she was held hostage, it said.
The girl had told the police that the couple forced her to come with them at knife-point and took her to a rented room in Ludhiana where she was repeatedly raped by Zaheer.
During the trial, the couple claimed that they were falsely implicated by the girl's father because they had asked him to return the money they had lent him.
The couple had also alleged that the girl was raped by her father and when they tried to talk to him about it, he had threatened to lodge a false complaint against them.
The court, however, rejected all contentions of the couple.