A court in Shivpuri on Saturday sentenced a person to life imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl, and his guru to rigorous imprisonment for five years for rendering her blind while forcing an abortion.
District and Sessions Judge Renu Sharma also imposed fines of Rs 25,000 on Balak Das and Rs 10,000 on his guru Mauni Maharaj.
A sum of Rs 25,000 of the total fine amount should be given to the victim, the judge said. She also directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 100,000 to the victim within 90 days.
Balak Das had rendered the girl, a student of standard VI, unconscious and raped her while she was carrying food to workers in the guru's fields at Khorana village near Shivpuri, on January 2, 2004.
When Mauni Maharaj was informed of the act, he gave the child seeds of dhatura (thorn apple) mixed in sweets to force an abortion. The girl gave birth to a dead child and became blind as a side-affect of consuming the seeds.
