Mangaluru: Accused convicted in POCSO case, sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment

Team Udayavani, Nov 4, 2023, 10:46 AM IST

Mangaluru: A court in Mangaluru convicted an accused in a POCSO case and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Judge Manjula Itti of Mangaluru First Additional District and Sessions Court (FTSC-1) (POCSO) sentenced the accused, identified as Srikanth Hanumantha of Balagalkote, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl.

The victim, belonging to the Scheduled Tribes community, lived with her family in a shed belonging to a box manufacturing company in Karambaru village under Bajpe Police station limits. The accused lived in an adjacent shed.

The prosecution had argued that the accused sexually assaulted the victim on multiple occasions at her residence when her parents were away since April 12, 2019, on the pretext of marrying her. He also took photos of the girl in a compromising position and used them to threaten her to keep the matter discreet. He had also threatened to kill her if she revealed the matter to anyone.

The crime came to light when the girl fell ill at school and on further examination she was found to be pregnant. She later gave birth to a child.

Police took up the case, with ACP conducting the preliminary investigation and subsequently  ACP Belliyappa K U filing a charge sheet in court.

After hearing the arguments and the evidence, the Court held the accused guilty of the crime. He was sentenced under Section 376 (2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000, failing which to serve an additional 3 months of RI.  Further, under section 376 (3) serve 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000, failing which to undergo an additional 3 months of rigorous imprisonment.

The court also ordered 1 year simple imprisonment under section 506 of IPC and a fine of Rs 5,000, failing which to serve an additional one-month simple imprisonment.

The court also directed the government to provide a compensation of Rs 10.50 lakhs to the aggrieved girl.

Initially, Special Public Prosecutor Sahanadevi argued for the prosecution. Further inquiry and arguments were presented by Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Pramod Nayak.