Panchkula, July 21 -- A special POCSO court in Panchkula has sentenced a 26-year-old man to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment for abducting, raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl in 2024. The convict, Ghajraj of Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district, who was residing in Kalka at the time of the crime, has also been awarded a fine of Rs.50,000. The case was registered under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting a person) of the Indian Penal Code in April 2024 after the victim's mother, a labourer, alleged that her daughter, a Class-9 student, had gone missing. When the police finally recovered the minor on May 28, 2024, a medical examination revealed she was five months pregnant. After recording the girl's statement before a magistrate, Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 376 (rape) of IPC was also invoked. After examining the evidence and witnesses, the court held Ghajraj guilty. htc...