Man sent to RI for 20 years for rape of minor
Additional District and Sessions (Special POCSO) Fast Track Special Court-1 at Kalaburagi has sentenced a 24-year-old man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl.
The court presided over by Justice SL Chavan also came down hard on the social evil of child marriage by sentencing the victim’s parents and her husband to one year imprisonment. The verdict was handed down on Tuesday.
According to the prosecution, the main convict, Nagappa Chadabanura, a resident of Yaragola village in Yadgir district, targeted the minor girl by constantly stalking her and talking to her.
In March 2024, when the victim was returning home from the toilet in the evening, he lured her with false promises of love and marriage.
Although he knew she was a minor, he forcibly took her to a nearby thorn bush and raped her against her will.
The victim was subsequently forced into child marriage on May 3, 2024 at the Korisiddeshwara temple in Nalwar by her parents and other family members who married her to 25-year-old Siddappa Harakanchi.
Even after marriage, Nagappa continued to harass the victim and demanded that she leave her husband.
The harassment culminated on September 5, 2024, when Nagappa detained the victim in Nalwar village, forced her onto a motorbike and drove her to a remote pigeon pea (tur dal) field.
There he raped her again before abandoning her at Wadi railway station under the pretense of collecting money.
When the victim disclosed her ordeal to her parents the next day, their attempt to confront Nagappa was met with death threats, leading to a police investigation.
After a thorough investigation led by wadi sub-inspector of police Tirumalesh and Chittapur circle inspector of police Chandrashekhar Tigadi, a charge sheet was filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
Special Public Prosecutor Shanthaveera B. Thuppada, representing the State, successfully argued the case, presented incontrovertible evidence and ensured that key witnesses were systematically brought to trial with the help of police personnel.
Following the verdicts, Mr. Chavan sentenced Nagappa to 20 years imprisonment under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and fined him ₹25,000 with an additional six months of simple imprisonment in default of payment.
He was also sentenced to one year in jail and fined ₹10,000 under Section 12 of the POCSO Act along with concurrent sentences under BNS Sections 78 (one year imprisonment, fine ₹10,000) and 87 (three years imprisonment, fine ₹25,000).
At the same time, the court strictly dealt with the aspect of child marriage.
The victim’s husband, Siddappa, was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 9 of the Child Marriage Prohibition Act. The victim’s 46-year-old father Ningappa Badder and her 40-year-old mother Ningamma were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 10 of the same Act for facilitating the marriage of their minor daughter.
Failure to pay any of these small fines will mean another month of simple imprisonment.
The court recognized the severe physical and psychological trauma suffered by the survivor and made an empathetic and remedial order. Mr. Chavan directed the Legal Services Authority to provide a financial compensation of ₹5,00,000 to the victim. The court ordered that this compensation amount must be paid to the minor survivor within one month from the date of judgment to aid her rehabilitation and recovery.
Published – 9 Jul 2026 23:19 IST