Supreme Court trashes appeals of two convicts in rape case of minor school girl

Supreme Court upholds life imprisonment for convicts in 2019 kidnapping and rape case of 13-year-old girl.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of two convicts challenging the life imprisonment handed down by courts below for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2019 on the pretext of taking her to a picnic.

A Bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) rejected the appeal of convicts Sanjay Paikra and Pustam Yadav against the Chhattisgarh High Court verdict.

The High Court on August 5, 2024, upheld the trial court’s judgement convicting Paikra, Yadav and third accused Santosh Kumar Gupta, the school van driver, in the sensational kidnapping and rape case under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) for offences of kidnapping and raping a class VII student.

“This is a very serious case. You, along with the van driver kidnapped and raped a minor schoolgirl. No indulgence is needed from us. Dismissed,” the Bench said while rejecting the appeal of two convicts.

The Bench did not agree to the submissions that the girl was a consenting party and did not raise any alarm during the period when she was kept in solitary confinement.

“She is a minor. This is proved and nothing else is needed,” the Bench said.

The trial court had convicted the three accused on October 5, 2021 and had awarded life imprisonment besides imposing a fine of ₹1,000 on them under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, which deals with the punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault.