The accused, identified as Jagdish Chandulal Rawal, is currently lodged at Thane Central jail
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The district and sessions court in Vasai sentenced a 42-year-old-man to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl in Virar West. The accused, identified as Jagdish Chandulal Rawal, is currently lodged at Thane Central jail. In August 2016, Rawal, who is a neighbour of the survivor, asked her to get some vegetables from the market. "When the girl returned with the vegetables, Rawal sprayed some liquid on her face after which she fell unconscious. Thereafter he raped her," said ASI Sudhakar Yenare from Arnala police station, where the girl filed a complaint.
Yenare further said that later Rawal even blackmailed the girl and said he would ruin her image if she didn't allow him to rape her. However, five months later the girl's mother realised that she was pregnant when she noticed her baby bump. When her mother took her to a clinic, she narrated the incident before the doctor after which they filed a complaint and a case was registered under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act. Rawal was immediately arrested and sent to judicial remand.
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The officer said, "Rawal always denied his involvement during court proceedings. When the survivor delivered her baby, the court directed a DNA match of the child with Rawal. The report was positive." Meanwhile, Rawal had secured bail and was at home. Last week, when the court was about to pronounce the quantum of punishment, he somehow managed to escape from the courtroom but later was again produced before the court that awarded him life sentence and a fine of Rs 1,000.
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