The district court in Nawalparasi (East) has sentenced actor Paul Shah (Purna Bikram Shah) to two years and six months in jail and slapped a fine of Rs25,000 on the charge of molesting a minor.

According to Lal Bahadur Chhetri, spokesperson for the district court, the single bench of district judge Yagya Prasad Acharya gave its verdict on Tuesday evening. The court also ordered Shah to provide Rs1 million to the victim as compensation.

The district court, however, acquitted Shah of the charge of raping the minor.

A 17-year-old singer filed a complaint in February accusing Shah of raping her in Tanahun and Nawalparasi (East) districts.

Six legal practitioners argued on behalf of actor Shah in the district court, pleading his innocence. They claimed the teenage girl was enticed by others to record her previous statement accusing the actor of raping her during the shooting of a music video in Nawalparasi (East) about two years ago.

Following the hearing on Tuesday, the court sentenced Shah with two and a half years imprisonment in accordance with the Criminal Act 2017.

The court also warned the guardians of the teenage singer stating that they failed to fulfill their duties as guardians. They should not leave the underage daughter alone, reads the court’s ruling. The court also questioned the media for disseminating false news about the incident.

The 32-year-old actor was taken into custody at the District Police Office in Tanahun on February 27 after the girl filed a complaint accusing him of raping her. The victim also filed another case at the Area Police Office in Gaindakot, Nawalparasi, against Shah.

The Tanahun District Court had issued an order to send the accused to judicial custody for investigation in March. Shah is now in judicial custody in Tanahun.

The singer, a minor as per Nepal’s law, has accused Shah of raping her with a false promise of marriage. She filed the case in Tanahun days after the controversy arose, with reports surfacing on various online news outlets.

However, the singer later changed her statement. While recording her statement at the court in April, the girl said that she had not been raped as she claimed earlier, saying that the information stated in the earlier complaints was false.