Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Sep 11
A fast-track court in Srinagar has sentenced a man to seven years in prison after convicting him of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor girl in a 2020 case, the court said.
The Fast Track Court for POCSO Cases sentenced Aqib Bashir Sofi of Chattabal after finding him guilty under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The court found that the prosecution had established charges of kidnapping, criminal intimidation, wrongful confinement, causing hurt, and sexual contact with the minor with sexual intent.
However, it said charges of rape under Section 376 of the IPC and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The court cited inconsistencies in evidence, the absence of spermatozoa in forensic examination and shortcomings in the investigation.
The case arose after the minor, who had gone to a tailor’s shop on Dec. 24, 2020, failed to return home. Prosecutors said Sofi had taken her forcibly to his house in Chattabal. She returned home the following morning, and the matter was reported to police.
Police registered FIR No. 227/2020 at Safa Kadal police station.
During the trial, the prosecution examined the victim, her parents, police officials, a medical officer, a school principal and forensic experts.
The court said school records established that the victim was a minor at the time of the incident.
Sofi was sentenced to seven years’ simple imprisonment under the POCSO Act and seven years under the IPC for kidnapping, along with fines. He also received seven years for criminal intimidation and one-year terms for causing hurt and wrongful confinement.
All sentences will run concurrently, the court ordered.
The court also directed that the period already spent in custody, including remand, be deducted from the sentence.
