A special court in Korba district in Chhattisgarh has convicted nine people, including two women, for kidnapping and trafficking two minor tribal sisters.
Special Judgeunder SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) ActVijay Kumar Ekka yesterday awarded life imprisonment to six of the nine accused, 14 years rigorous imprisonment to two others and 10 year jail term to another, public prosecutor Ranjna Dutta said today.
Two others were acquitted in the case, she said.
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In May 2015, a native of Lemru police station area had lodged a complaint that her two daughters, aged 12 and 13 years, had been kidnapped, Dutta said.
During the investigation, police got information that the duo was brought to Saragbundia village in the district by some agents involved in human trafficking on the pretext of getting them hired as domestic help, but one of them was forced into prostitution, she said, adding that the accused were also planning to push another girl into flesh trade.
Subsequently, police had arrested seven members of the gang - Rajendra Patel (33), his wife Mamta Patel (28) of Raigarh district, Pawan Katakwar (19) of Korba, Durga Singh (28), Nitesh Singh (19) of Janjgir-Champa, Sheikh Shahbali (28) of Sarguja and another woman - Pinki Sahu (22) of Korba and their two associates Santosh Prajapati (42) and John Kush Tigga (34) in connection with the crime, she said.
They were booked under sections 363 (kidnapping), 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave), 370 (1) and sections of POCSO(Protection of Children from Sexual Offence)Actand provisions of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, she said, adding that some of them were also booked under IPC section 376 (rape).
The court sentenced Rajendra, Santosh, Nitesh, Sheikh, Pawan and Pinki to life imprisonment, while awarding fourteen years jail term each to Mamta and John, and 10 years to Durga Singh, Dutta said.
The court also slapped all nine accused with fine, but acquitted two others arrested in the case - Bukhan Kashyap (40) and Ravindra Agrawal (32).
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