Panchkula, Oct. 29 -- A Panchkula court on Tuesday sentenced a 26-year-old man from Barwala to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in his neighbourhood in 2021. Along with the prison term, the court of additional sessions judge Bikramjit Aroura also awarded a fine of Rs.50,000 to the convict under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was also held guilty under Section 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel marriage) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), for which, he was awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.10,000. Additionally, he was awarded three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.5,000 under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the IPC. The court, while pronouncing the judgment on Monday, had acquitted a 35-year-old co-accused in the case, citing lack of evidence. The case was registered at the women police station, Panchkula, in July 2021. The victim's father told police that his wife had passed away in April 2021, and he was raising three children alone. His eldest daughter, aged 13, informed him that the 26-year-old accused had sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions in June 2021. The accused had also allegedly threatened to kill her and her family members if she revealed the incident. An FIR was subsequently registered under Sections 4, 6, and 10 of the POCSO Act and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The victim's statement was recorded under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) during the investigation. Following the investigation, the 26-year-old was arrested. Based on his disclosurestatement, a 35-year-old man was also arrested as a co-accused. However, during trial, the defense argued that the co-accused was falsely implicated as his name did not appear in the initial complaint of the victim. Public prosecutor Sukhwinder Kaur said that the prosecution successfully proved the accused's involvement in the sexual assault of the minor and also established the victim's age during the trial. However, the role of the co-accused could not be substantiated, leading to his acquittal....