India, April 20 -- A Pune sessions court has convicted a 48-year-old man who worked as a government cook for raping a seven-year-old girl and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI). The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge HM Bhosale on April 17. In the order, the court emphasised that credible testimony of a minor victim can be sufficient for conviction, in the absence of conclusive forensic evidence.

According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on April 6, 2023, at the government institution in Dighi, where both the accused and the victim's father were employed. The minor girl, then aged seven, was playing in a park near her residence when the accused allegedly lured her into a nearby toilet and sexuall...