Thane: A local court has convicted a 33- year-old man for assaulting and raping a waitress in 2016 and sentenced him to ten years rigorous imprisonment. Additional Sessions Judge S C Khalipe also slapped a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict Ajay Chaurasiya.  

The judge in his recent order said that the fine would be paid as a compensation to the victim. Prosecutor Vandana Jadhav told the court that Chaurasiya used to visit the ladies bar at Upavan here where the victim was working and they knew each other.  

On the intervening night of August 13 and 14, when the victim was returning home in a car, Chaurasiya followed her on his two-wheeler, Jadhav said.  

He forcibly stopped the victim's car and later took her to a hotel, where he assaulted her with a leather belt and raped her, the court was told. A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered and Chaurasiya was later arrested, the prosecutor added.  

Defence counsel Darmyansingh Bist contested the case and refuted all the charges. However, the Judge held Chaurasiya guilty under sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354(d) (stalking) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC and sentenced him to ten years rigorous imprisonment. PTI