A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment by a special POCSO court here for kidnapping and raping a minor tribal girl in Maharashtra's Palghar district.
Special POCSO and district judge P P Jadhav also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on Aashif Akbar Kotwal, a driver, on Thursday.
Additional Public Prosecutor Vivek Kadu said Kotwal had ferried the 16-year-old victim's family in his vehicle to a marriage function in Bhevardachapada in Jawhar tehsil on May 30, 2015.
After the family returned from the function and got off at Apatale village, Kotwal forcibly drove off with the victim and raped her at an isolated spot in Kalsheti village, he said.
Kotwal was later nabbed by the victim's family the next morning and handed over to the police, Kadu said.
A case under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code was registered in this connection.
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