Thane court sentences man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping minor under promise of marriage

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A special court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has sentenced a 35-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping a minor girl after promising to marry her.

Next session Judge Premal S. Vithalani sentenced the accused, Shrinivas Ashok Yelgonda, a painter, under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO), saying that while the absence of violence and premeditation was a mitigating factor, the law mandated a minimum term of 20 years.

According to the prosecution, the victim lived in the same housing association in Diva East as the accused and the two met in June 2020 and subsequently developed a romantic relationship through phone conversations.

Special Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale said that the accused first sexually assaulted the minor in November 2020 in an empty neighbor’s flat by promising to marry her and later raped her several times. The abuse came to light in February 2022 when there was a dispute after the accused reneged on his promise to marry her.

Four prosecution witnesses including the deceased, her mother and a neighbor were examined to prove the charge against the accused.

The defense argued that there was an inexplicable delay in registering the FIR in 2022 and that exact dates of the repeated attacks were missing. However, the court verified from the decedent’s birth certificate and high school diploma that she was a “child” under the age of 18 during the bulk of the abuse timeline, so her legal consent was immaterial.

“The evidence on record clearly shows that the victim had a bona fide impression that the accused would marry her, which led her to conceal the relationship and repeated physical intimacies from her parents,” the judge observed.

The family’s subsequent action before contacting the police is natural and understandable given the social stigma, honor and future of an unmarried girl, the court said.

He also noted that there was no evidence of brute force, physical injury or premeditated sexual predation.

“While the minority of the victim under the age of 18 renders her consent legally ineffective and renders conviction inevitable, romantic background remains a substantial and compelling mitigating factor in sentencing,” it said.

The court sent the convict to prison for 20 years and imposed a fine of ₹5,000.

Published – 8 Nov 2026 14:16 IST