Jamnagar man gets life term for raping 12-year-old girl

A sessions court in Jamnagar district Thursday convicted a 39-year-old man for raping and criminally intimidating a 12-year-old girl in the neighbourhood in 2011 and sentenced him to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000.

The girl was impregnated as a result of the rape and had given birth to a baby boy whose DNA matched with that of the accused, who has been identified as Iqbal Jumma Chamadia, a resident of coastal village of Bharana in Jamnagar district.

Both the accused and the victim belong to fishermen families.

Chamadia has also been convicted for house trespass and criminal intimidation and has been awarded rigorous imprisonment for two years, respectively.

The sessions court, presided over by judge P V Srivastava, pronounced a judgment in this regard.

According to K D Vadgama, the public prosecutor in the case, the victim girl is the eldest of five siblings and at the time of incident, she was engaged to a boy in Bhavnagar district. The convict, on the other hand, is a father of five and his wife is dead.

"On the day of incident, the girl's parents had gone to see her father-in-law as he was not keeping well. The girl was at home along with her younger brother," he said.

"Taking disadvantage of the situation, Chamadia, armed with a knife, entered the house of the victim by climbing a wall and raped her. He also threatened her not to tell anyone about the incident. The girl kept quiet out of fear. However, six months later, she was found pregnant," Vadgama added.

The family then registered a complaint with Vadinar Police Station on August 10, 2011, following which the accused was arrested and chargesheeted by police. Subsequently, the girl gave birth to a boy and reports confirmed the rape when the DNA of the boy matched with that of Chamadia. During the prosecution, the girl had deposed before the court and identified Chamadia as the rapist.

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