Panchkula, July 14 -- A fast-track court on Monday sentenced a 30-year-old man from Madhubani district in Bihar to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor in 2022. The convict, identified as Santosh Kumar, was also directed to pay Rs.50,000 as fine. In default of payment, he will have to undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment, which will run concurrently with the substantive sentence.

According to the prosecution, the Panchkula police had received information from the civil hospital, Sector 6, that a minor girl had been found pregnant. The victim told her mother that the accused established physical relations with her on multiple occasions on the false promise of marriage.

An FIR was registered in March 202...