A man was today sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment by a Delhi court for molesting a 14-year-old girl who was his distant relative after giving her stupefying substance here in 2011.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on 32-year-old Sahil Abbas, a permanent resident of Bulandshahar district in Uttar Pradesh, after holding him guilty for the offences under various sections of the IPC, including section 354 (outraging women's modesty).
The court, however, did not convict Abbas for the offence of allegedly raping the minor girl saying the police could not prove its case against him beyond reasonable suspicion and shadow of doubt that he committed sexual intercourse with her.
"Accordingly, the accused (Abbas) is acquitted for the offence of rape punishable under section 376 IPC and convicted for the offence of causing hurt by poisonous substance punishable under section 328 IPC, offence of procuration of minor girl punishable under section 366 A IPC, and offence of outraging the modesty of prosecutrix punishable under section 354 IPC," Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) T R Naval said.
According to police, on October 19, 2011, the 14-year-old victim had gone to buy bread from a nearby hotel and when she did not return, her father lodged an FIR at Gokal Puri Police Station here.
On the same night, the girl's father produced her at the police station saying she was abducted by Abbas after which he was arrested, the police said.
During the trial, Abbas told the court that the victim and her family members were his distant relatives and he used to advise the girl's father not to indulge in gambling activities at their house. He alleged that instead of following his advice, they got him implicated in this case.
