MEERUT, Feb. 22 -- A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district on Friday sentenced a 23-year-old man to rigorous life imprisonment for raping a seven-year-old girl in 2023. The verdict was delivered by Special Judge Aradhana Kushwaha.

Additional district government counsel (ADGC) Meghraj Saini on Saturday said the incident occurred on September 22, 2023, when the victim was playing outside her house. The accused, who ran a tea shop in the same locality, lured her away and committed the crime.

On returning home, the girl narrated her ordeal to her family, leading her father, a labourer, to lodge a police complaint. An FIR was registered under IPC section 376 (rape) and releva...