MUMBAI: Two junior Navy sailors — aged between 22 and 25 years — from Karwar in Karnataka were sentenced to 15 and 12 years of rigorous imprisonment respectively for raping two minor girls.The verdict was pronounced seven months after the case came for hearing in the Military Court based at the Western Naval Command (WNC) headquarters in Mumbai.The incident occurred last year between July and December when the sailors were posted at the Karwar base of the Naval Command.“The matter was reported to the Navy after the victims (both school going girls) complained to their parents that they were repeatedly raped by the two sailors on several occasions inside the Navy premise at Karwar. The victims narrated the incident to their parents who approached the Navy police. The accused were arrested in December 2016,” said a Navy source.The naval trial ensured safety for the victims, including protection of identities, as per Prevention of the Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of 2012.“The case was investigated in detail and a court martial was constituted. The court martial has found both sailors guilty and sentenced them to Rigorous Imprisonment for 15 years and 12 years respectively, and dismissed with disgrace from naval service,” the report stated.A Navy source said that the evidence against the two sailors is quite strong and the sentence cannot be challenged in any court.