Chandigarh, March 7 -- A 21-year-old youth who raped and impregnated a 14-year-old minor girl in 2022 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a fast-track special POCSO court.

Raped by the youth, who is the father of two children, the girl had delivered a male foetus that was found in a drain in May 2022. This had led to an FIR under Section 318 (concealment of birth by disposing dead body) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court of judge Yashika also imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 on the convict, Bharat, a resident of Sector 8, Panchkula, who had just started working as a munshi in court when he was arrested.

Two other accused in the case, identified as Pardeep and Manish, were acquitted in the absence of evidence.

While convicting the ...