Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Oct 14: The additional sessions court and fast track court for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which heard a case in which a man was accused of kidnapping a girl and raping her, handed down sentence of 12 years to him after finding him guilty.

Mallik alias Mallikarjun Hanumanthappa (27) from Gadag district who was residing within the limits of Kavoor police station here was found guilty. He was working as a coolie. He stayed next door to the girl, and he used to go to work in the company of the father of the girl. He earned the trust of the 16-year-old daughter of his friend, promised to marry her, and kidnapped her during May 2017. The girl's parents filed a missing complaint at Kavoor police station.

The accused had taken the girl to Goa where he raped her repeatedly. She became pregnant and gave birth to a baby in a hospital in Goa. The youth escaped then, leaving the girl and her child to fend for themselves. He had threatened her not to disclose about her ordeal to her parents. After her parents complained to Kavoor police station, case under the provisions of POCSO Act including abduction, rape, sexual atrocity on minor etc was filed and the accused was arrested.

Assistant commissioners of police, Rajendra, Manjunath Shetty and Srinivas Gowda who investigated the case and filed a charge sheet in the court. Judge of the court, Savitri V Bhat, who heard the case, concluded that the charges have been proved. The judge also ordered the accused to pay a fine of Rs 1,05,000 for different offences. Failing payment, he will have to undergo additional jail terms as specified in the order. The judgement also prescribed that out of the fine amount, Rs 50,000 should be given to the girl, and additionally, the government should pay compensation of Rs 2.5 lac to the victim.