29-year-old cab driver gets 10-year jail for marrying, raping minor girl

Bengaluru: A 29-year-old cab driver who was guilty of marrying a minor in 2015 was sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment by the special fast-track court in Tumakuru.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 40,000 on him.

Convict S Gajendra was 23 and a married man when he took the 16-year-old girl from her village near Sira taluk in his cab on October 2, 2015. According to the charge sheet filed by Sira police, the accused took the girl to different places, including Sagar, Shivamogga, and Dharmasthala, where he married her.

Between October 2015 and November 2015, the accused lived with the girl at a friend’s house in Bengaluru.

By first week of November, Sira police, based on the complaint filed by the girl’s father, arrested Gajendra under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and different sections of Indian Penal Code.