Tamil Nadu: Man sentenced to life imprisonment for raping minor girl

Erode: A court has sentenced a married man to life imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a minor girl at Orichery village in the district two years back.

The district mahila court awarded life sentence to Arumugam (28) when the case came up for hearing on Friday.

The court also sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping the girl and slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on him.

The sentences will run concurrently, the court said. The prosecution's case was that Arumugam befriended the 16-year-old girl, hailing from the same village, and told her he is a bachelor and earning a handsome salary. He also told her that he was ready to marry her.

On October 11, 2015, when the girl was standing near a bus stop, he met her, gave her some false promises, kidnapped her and took her to Salem.

From there he took her to a temple, tied a 'thali' around her neck and proclaimed that they were now a married couple. Then he took her to a lodge where he raped her. After two days he took her back to the village, left her near her house and escaped.

The girl narrated everything to her mother, who filed a complaint at an All Women police station.

Arumugam was arrested after a few days and case of kidnapping and rape of a minor registered against him, police said.