(Representative image)

SALEM: The Erode district sessions court on Monday sentenced three people to life imprisonment for raping a 15-year old girl in 2016.

Judge N Thirunavukkarasu of the mahila court awarded the sentence to Y Vijayakumar, 31, and his friend F Joseph Raja, 27, of Pandipuram in Kanyakumari district, as well as Muniandi alias Ramesh, 41, a pastor from Gudalur in the Nilgiris district.

Vijayakumar, who was working as a contract worker in Sulur, Coimbatore, used to visit his sister, Y Vasanthakumari, at Ukkaram near Nambiyur in Erode district regularly. “He developed contact with the minor girl living near his sister’s house. He promised the girl that he will marry her,” said court officials.

Later, Vijayakumar abducted the girl to Gudalur, where he married her on August 25, 2016, with help of the pastor and his friend Joseph Raja. They raped her after the marriage.

Meanwhile, grandmother of the girl lodged a complaint with the all-women police station in Gobichettipalayam. The police arrested the trio and rescued the girl from them.

Besides sentencing them to life imprisonment, the judge slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on them. He also recommended the state government to give a solatium of 2 lakh to the girl.

