50-year-old man sentenced to 10 years in jail for rape

New

, Feb 14: A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Delhi

for raping a

here.

Additional Sessions Judge MC Gupta passed the order against Ramesh, who hails from Haryana, and also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him for raping the 32-year-old woman on two occasions in 2010.

The court had earlier acquitted a female relative with whom the victim used to stay of charges that she had forced the latter to establish physical relations with different men.

According to police, the relative, who was accused of forcing the victim into prostitution and abetting rape, allegedly used to take money from the men, including Ramesh.

While convicting Ramesh, the court said, "There was not an iota of evidence or even a suggestion that Ramesh has been falsely implicated in the case because of animosity."

It also said that the testimony of the victim was found to be "clear, natural, convincing and trustworthy". According to the prosecution, in May, 2010, following a dispute with her husband, the woman had moved to Delhi and began staying with her relative at Rohini.

But she was allegedly forced by her relative to enter into sexual relations with several men who used to come to the house. Police said that Ramesh had first raped the woman in May, 2010, and again in October of that year.

The victim later managed to run away from her relative's house and took help from a shopkeeper in the area to approach police.

During the trial, Ramesh pleaded innocence saying that the woman had lodged a false case against him in collusion with her relative. The court, however, rejected his contention.

PTI