New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) A Delhi court has framed charges against a man for allegedly trafficking and raping a minor after finding a "prima facie" case.
Additional sessions judge Susheel Bala Dagar also framed charges against a woman for exploiting a child employee, discharged another accused pointing out the lack of sufficient evidence.
The case was against one Firoz alias Mohammad Jumrat, Renu Tora and Deepak Jain.
The court's verdict on December 23, 2024, said a couple of years before the FIR was registered on January 29, 2022, accused Firoz induced and recruited the survivor for household chores in different homes and sexually assaulted her and even paid her to gain consent.
"He committed penetrative sexual assault...," the court said.
Firoz and his accomplice Tora withheld the minor's earnings, which they received from her employer Jain, it said.
Charges under IPC Sections 370 (trafficking of a minor), 370 A (exploitation of a trafficked person), 376 2 (n) (repeated rape), 376 (3) (rape on a woman below 16 years), 174 A (non-appearance in response to a proclamation) were framed against Firoz.
The court also framed charges against him under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and under Section 79 (punishment for exploiting a child employee) under the JJ Act.
"Prima facie charge under Section 79 of the JJ Act is made out against the accused Renu Tora. Charges framed under the said sections have been read over to the accused Firoz and Renu Tora, who after understanding the same have pleaded not guilty and claimed trial," it held further.
Jain, the court observed, was not accused of rape by the survivor in her statement before the magistrate.
"The material placed on record does not make out any offence, even prima facie to frame a charge against the accused Deepak Jain," the court said.
According to the FIR, the minor was taken by a relative from a Jharkhand village to Ranchi from where Firoz brought her to Delhi.
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