Tripura: Man gets life-term for raping, impregnating 17-year-old girl

A Tripura court on Tuesday sentenced a 30-year-old man to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹25,000; failure to pay results in six months of rigorous imprisonment, for raping and impregnating a 17-year-old girl.

According to police, the incident occurred in August 2021 in Khowai district when the rape-survivor, then a student of Class 11 went to convict’s home to tutor his children. Police said that when his children were out playing, the man sexually assaulted her.

Police said that the man again sexually assaulted her at her home when she was alone and also threatened her not to disclose it to anyone.

Police said that the survivor felt pain in her abdomen in September, however, she could not consult a doctor due to her exams. Medical examinations in December revealed that she was pregnant.

In December 2021, based on the survivor’s complaint, police lodged a case against the man under sections 376(1) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and arrested him.

On January 20, 2022, the investigating officer filed a chargesheet against him and the court found him guilty and accordingly convicted him.

Earlier this June, a man was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman with physical and mental illnesses in Unakoti district. While in September, another man was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl and was sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment. In a separate case, a hostel warden was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor student of a school in North Tripura district.