Amroha (UP), Aug 12 (IANS): In a rare incident, a man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after the victim, a 16-year-old blind girl recognized him with his voice.

A POCSO court awarded the punishment to the youth, almost four years after the crime was committed. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 52,000 on the accused.

The crime was committed in September 2017 in Dhanora village of Amroha when the victim, daughter of farmer, was going to her relative's house.

According to police, she was accosted on the way by her neighbour Rahul Singh who caught her hand on the pretext of showing her the way to the relative's house.

He took her inside a room built for a tube well and raped her.

The girl kept quiet but recognized him by his voice. She somehow returned to her house and narrated her ordeal to her parents who filed a complaint against the accused under relevant sections of the IPC and the POCSO Act.

The accused was arrested but later came out on bail. After the verdict, he has been arrested again and sent to jail.

Public prosecutor Basant Singh said, "Proceedings of the case were going on for the last four years. Keeping all facts in mind, additional district and sessions judge Avadhesh Kumar Singh pronounced life term for the rapist earlier this week after which the accused was arrested and sent to jail."