Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Jun 21: The district and sessions court here, which had found a married man guilty of raping a girl student after developing friendship with her through social website by claiming himself to be a girl and then asking her to board a car he was driving by falsely informing that her friend was waiting for her on the way, and raping her at Hubballi-Dharwad city, guilty of the offences, pronounced his quantum of sentence on Wednesday June 20. Irshad, 27, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment and fined a sum of Rs 15,000.
Under section 366 of Indian Penal Code, he has been awarded three years imprisonment and Rs 5,000 fine, seven years imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine under section 376, and four months imprisonment under section 506. In case of failure to pay fine, he will have to undergo additional five months of imprisonment.
The girl was forcibly abducted by initially making her believe that her friend, Rafa, would be accompanying her to the city in the same car, on June 20, 2015. Families of the girl as well as that of Irshad had thereafter filed missing complaints. It is said that after he kidnapped the student and raped her at Hubballi-Dharwad, Irshad confessed to her that he was the one who impersonated as her friend on WhatsApp, Rafa. The police who were pursuing the case, succeeded in taking both of them into custody on June 25 that year after which the girl student was subjected to medical examination.
During the period she was in the hospital, the victim came to know that Irshad was married, and filed a complaint in Bantwal police station for rape, illegal confinement, and posing threat. The then Bantwal police inspector, Belliappa, investigated the case and filed charge sheet. Judge of the court, D T Puttarangaswamy, found that all the charges levelled against Irshad have been proved. He relied on records maintained at the lodge, witnesses of lodge staff, medical reports etc. A total of 22 witnesses were examined relating to the case. The prosecution was represented in the court by by Judith O M Crasta.