Man gets 10 years rigorous imprisonment for raping, duping woman in Maharashtra:

Maharashtra: Man gets 10 years rigorous imprisonment for raping, duping woman

A court in Thane district of Maharashtra has sentenced a man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for allegedly repeatedly raping a 23-year-old woman and cheating her. Additional sessions judge Rajesh S Gupta held 33-year-old Steven alias Oberi Godfrey D'cruz guilty for the offences and pronounced the sentence on Thursday. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1.75 lakh on him.

Besides being convicted for the offence punishable under IPC section 376 (2) (n) (committing rape repeatedly), the accused was also held guilty under section 420 (cheating) and the IT Act.

Additional public prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale told the court that the crime had taken place between November



2014 and September 2016. The accused had raped the victim on several occasions on the promise of marrying her.

Initially, both of them worked in the same organisation and lived together as live-in partners. However, the accused left the job. He used to come home drunk and demand money from her. He would also abuse and beat up the victim. Due to his behaviour, she moved to a new place, but he traced her, the prosecutor said.

Later, he told the victim that he was already married and had children. He also threatened the woman of making their intimate pictures public if she failed to give money to him, Hiwrale added.

Out of fear, the victim gave him a few lakh rupees, but later lodged a police complaint, following which action was taken against him.