Panchkula, Jan. 20 -- A special POCSO court in Panchkula, on Monday, sentenced a 35-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a minor girl in May 2021. The convict, a native of Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh, was a neighbour of the victim's family in Panchkula, who also hail from Uttar Pradesh. He was held guilty under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and directed to pay a fine of Rs.50,000 along with serving the jail sentence. In addition to the primary sentence, the convict received five years' imprisonmentand a Rs.10,000 fine under Section 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel marriage), three years and a Rs.5,000 fine under Section 363 (kidnapping), and two years and a Rs.2,000 fine under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. All sentences will run concurrently. Deputy district attorney (DDA) Sukhwinder Kaur said the victim's clear and consistent account of the incident played a crucial role in proving the man's guilt during thetrial. The case dates back to May 2021 when the victim's mother had approached the police,stating that her 17-year-old daughter had gone missing. Cops subsequently found her in Ludhiana and reunited her with the parents. It was later found that the man had forced her to run away with him before committing the rape. He was arrested thefollowing day....