1 week Ago
Vadodara: A special judge (POCSO) on Wednesday sentenced a 20-year-old man to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl and impregnating her. The convict, a resident of Savli, was also fined Rs one lakh by the court of JA Thakkar. The accused was booked by the Savli police in May 2024 for raping a 15-year-old who became pregnant and delivered a child.
The accused met the girl near her village in 2023 and later gave her his phone number. According to the FIR, they used to talk regularly, and he used to call her to meet him in an open field. During their meetings, he raped the girl a few times in the field.
After several such meetings, he switched off his phone. The girl tried to contact him, but he didn't talk with her. A few days later, the girl learned that she was pregnant, but she didn't reveal it to her family.
"The girl said in her complaint that she concealed her pregnancy by wearing very loose clothes," said advocate CG Patel, who represented her in court. The girl said that in March 2024, she told her family that she was feeling uneasy and wanted to visit the doctor. Her grandparents took her to the clinic of Dr Ajit Soni in Savli, where she was given some treatment.
The girl said in her complaint that she went into the washroom of the clinic and delivered a baby boy without the knowledge of her grandparents and the clinic staff. She said that she abandoned the baby on the shed of the clinic's terrace and then left. The hospital authorities, however, learned about the baby that was lying in the open with his body covered by hundreds of ants.
Dr Soni informed the police, who found that the girl delivered the baby. The court, however, didn't accept the claim that she delivered the baby outside the knowledge of the hospital staff. "It is surprising that no one in the hospital realised that the girl was pregnant and that she even delivered a baby," the court observed.
The court further said that the doctor's role was suspicious in the case and ordered the police to conduct an inquiry against him. "The doctors, who aren't capable of allopathic treatment, are practising in villages and playing with the health of people," the court observed. "The baby delivered by the girl survived the treatment and was given to the Child Welfare Committee.
The baby has been adopted by a couple," Patel said..
