A 22-year-old man from the west Indian state of Gujarat was jailed for 20 years for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl, despite the DNA not matching with the foetus. The incident unfolded in Gujarat's Rajkot district where the court found the man guilty based on other evidence and the rape survivor's statement.
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The court also ordered an investigation against the investigating officer (IO) of the case for his failure to probe two other suspects in the case. They were the friends of the survivor, as alleged by her aunt in the complaint.
The aunt lodged a complaint in July 2024, alleging that the accused raped the teenage girl for over two years under the "pretence of romance" and she got pregnant after that.
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The girl testified that there were multiple rapes over two years. She has delivered a child.
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"According to the court's order, I have entrusted ASP Simran Bharadwaj with the departmental inquiry against the IO of the case," Rajkot SP said.
" ... Even after receiving the DNA report, the IO did not record the statements of the girl or her relatives regarding the involvement of other suspects, and the testimony of the survivor can't be rejected only because the DNA report doesn't match," Additional public prosecutor Kartikey Parekh argued, Times of India (TOI) reported.
"The prosecution succeeded in proving that the accused committed the crime under BNS Sections 376 (3), 376 (2) (n) and under Pocso," court declared.
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(With inputs from agencies)