Panchkula, March 6 -- Nearly five years after a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped, a special fast-track POCSO court in Panchkula sentenced a 25-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. The case dates to June 2021 when the victim's mother had filed a police complaint, stating that her teenaged daughter had gone missing. During the course of the investigation, police traced the girl to Bihar and reunited her with her family. It was later found that the man, who was already married, had lured the minor under false pretences. Medical examination confirmed rape and the case was registered under Sections 346 (wrongful confinement in secret), 363 (kidnapping), and 366 (kidnapping or abducting a woman to compel her to marriage) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Charges under Section 346 were dropped during the legal proceedings. The court found him guilty of the other charges. He was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment and told to pay Rs.50,000 fine under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Under Section 366, the convict was awarded five-year jail and Rs.10,000 fine. Under Section 362, he was directed to undergo three-year jail and pay Rs.5,000 fine. All terms will run concurrently. Deputy district attorney (DDA) Sukhwinder Kaur said the prosecution's case was bolstered by the testimony of the victim and her family. "The victim, her mother, and her brother fully supported the prosecution. This testimony, combined with circumstantial evidence of the kidnapping and medical proof of the assault, ensured a strong conviction," Kaur said....