A special court on Thursday sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl in 2012.
The court acquitted four others, including another man who was booked for raping the girl, and three people who were forced to marry the accused in 2013.
The court had in 2019 directed three Mumbai Police personnel to face trial for forcing the minor to marry the accused, but the trial against them has been stayed for the time being.
The court convicted the 41-year-old man on charges including rape under the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act.
According to the prosecution led by Special Public Prosecutor Geeta Sharma, the minor was gang-raped inside a general store by the 41-year-old and 37-year-old accused. The incident came to light when the girl’s mother noticed something wrong and took her for sonography test. On examination it was found that she was eight months pregnant.
When she told her family about the rape, her father approached a corporator, who told her to go to the police.
At the police station, three police personnel, along with other accused, who claimed to be social workers, allegedly told the girl and her father that she should marry the 37-year-old.
The father told the court that after applying pressure, he agreed. The marriage ceremony was performed, but later the father was asked to forget the whole matter by taking 2.5 lakh rupees. The 37-year-old accused also approached the police against the father, following which he moved the Bombay High Court. An FIR was registered in this case in 2014.