THANE: A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by a court in Thane for kidnapping and molesting a girl.Special POCSO court Judge PP Jadhav, in his order issued last week, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Sandeep Vitthal Umap.According to the prosecution, on January 13, 2017, the girl, then aged 17 years, left her home in Lokmanya Nagar here for her classes but did not return.The girl's friends later told her parents that while they were on their way back home, Umap came on a two-wheeler and took her away.He took the class 12 girl to his native village in Ahmednagar district where he molested her, the prosecution told the court.The two were later traced by police and the girl was brought back on January 15, 2017.Umap was arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 354 (molestation), and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.The judge observed that once the victim is proved to be minor, "her consent is no consent in the eyes of law".He said the evidence proved that Umap took away the girl forcibly.It is pertinent to note that after being released on bail in this case, he was again arrested in another case on charges of kidnapping, rape and POCSO sections, the judge said."The accused has not learnt any lesson... it shows his criminal tendency. Under such circumstances, he deserves to be punished," the judge said in the order.

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