A court in Palghar district, Maharashtra, has convicted a 34-year-old man of Nepalese origin for kidnapping a 13-year-old minor girl and taking her to Nepal, where he sexually assaulted her. The court handed down a 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence to the convict along with a fine of Rs 5,000. During the proceedings, the court firmly rejected the defense arguments claiming a romantic relationship and mutual consent between the accused and the victim.
How the Kidnapping from Mumbai to Nepal Unfolded
The origins of this criminal case trace back to the Borivali locality in Mumbai. The accused, identified as Narendra Bahadur Gorakh Bahadur Pandey, was living in the same neighborhood as the 13-year-old victim. On June 20, 2018, Pandey asked the girl to meet him at Boisar railway station in Palghar district. From there, he lured her away and traveled to his ancestral village in Nepal. He detained the victim at his village for approximately one month. Despite being fully aware that she was a minor, he subjected her to repeated sexual abuse. Following a formal missing person complaint lodged by the girl's family, law enforcement traced and arrested Pandey.
Court Rejection of the Mutual Consent Defense
During the trial, the defense counsel argued that the victim and the accused were in a consensual romantic relationship and that the actions were mutual. However, the court dismissed this argument outright. The judicial bench observed that because the victim was a minor under the law, her consent carried zero legal validity. Special Public Prosecutor Sanjay More presented the case against the accused, examining a total of seven prosecution witnesses, including the minor victim herself, to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Statutory Provisions and Final Sentence
Upon reviewing the evidence and hearing the arguments from both sides, Additional Sessions Judge A. R. Rahane held Narendra Bahadur Gorakh Bahadur Pandey guilty under Section 363 (Kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) alongside relevant sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The judge awarded him 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and levied a monetary fine of Rs 5,000.
