The Additional District and Sessions Court of Chandigarh on Tuesday held two juveniles guilty of raping a minor girl in 2017. The two 17-year-old boys were held guilty by the Court of Additional District Judge Poonam R Joshi, however, the quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on Thursday.
According to the prosecution, the case dates back to September 25, 2017, when the FIR was registered on the complaint of a 16-year-old girl. The victim had alleged that at around 2 pm when she was returning home from her friend’s birthday party, she was interrupted by a boy, who was also present at the birthday party. The boy had taken her to a departmental store in the area on knifepoint and raped her.
The accused allegedly committed the crime with the connivance of his aide, who kept the shutter of the shop closed, while the juvenile was raping the minor. The victim was let go by the juveniles around 4 pm, after which she returned home and narrated the incident to her mother, who then along with the victim’s father, filed a formal complaint at the Sector 31 police station.
Acting on the complaint, the police team had apprehended the two juveniles involved in the case and had registered a case under the sections 376 (rape), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code and the Section 4 of POCSO Act. During the trial, the defence counsel argued that the juveniles were falsely implicated in the case, and they had no involvement with the girl.
However, after hearing the arguments the court held the duo guilty.