Panchkula, Feb. 17 -- A fast-track special POCSO court in Panchkula has sentenced a 20-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old in 2021, when he was a juvenile (child in conflict with law).

The convict, a native of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, was residing in Panchkula at the time of the offence. The case was registered in December 2021 under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366A (procuration of minor girl) and 376(2)(n) (commits rape repeatedly on the same woman) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The court convicted him under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act on Monday. He was awarded the maximum puni...