India, May 27 -- A Ghaziabad court on Monday awarded 20-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a 26-year-old man who raped an 11-year-old girl from his neighbourhood in Modinagar on July 7, 2023 and fined him additionally for Rs.100,000.

The court headed by special judge (Pocso Act) Neeraj Gautam stated in the order that the convict was awarded imprisonment under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

"He will have to undergo additional imprisonment of six more months in case the fine is not paid," stated the May 25 order.

The prosecution said that the girl was 11 years old at the time of the incident, and the convict lured her while she was playing outside her house, on the pretext of buying a remote control fo...