Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Nov 23: The district principal and sessions court, is also the designated court for handling of cases booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act 2012, on Monday November 24 sentenced a man to rigorous life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 56,000 for raping a minor mentally ill girl.
Sundar (50), a resident of Kelinjar near Kuppepadavu was found guilty of repeatedly raping the girl. The incident took place around 18 months ago at Kelinjar.
Sundar was accused of raping the girl five times, by deviously making her fall prey to his ulterior designs. Knowing well that the girl was in the habit of inhaling snuff, Sundar invited her to the bathroom of her house thrice and of his house twice during June and July 2013 in the guise of supplying snuff to her. During this period, he had raped the girl five times.
When the girl raised an alarm, he told her that he would stop supplying snuff to her if she did not cooperate. Sundar was also charged with making the girl consume some contraceptive pills. The incident somehow came to the knowledge of Childline, which filed a complaint in Bajpe police station. The police, who registered the case on August 23, 2013, had arrested Sundar the next day.
Arguments on the quantum of punishment were conducted on Friday November 21. Judge of the court Uma A G, who took cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the then Bajpe police inspector, Dinakar Shetty, heard the case, examined 16 witnesses including the victim and the judge of JMFC second court Rooopashree Rai who had recorded the girl's statement. Medical reports of Dr Jacinta D'Souza of Wenlock Hospital who examined the girl, medical report of Dr Sunill Kumar,who tested the girl to determine her age, and Dr Jawahar, who had tested Sundar for ability to indulge in sexual activity, were also taken into account before arriving at a decision. Sundar's argument that he was being made a scapegoat because of certain differences in his village, did not hold water.
The quantum of punishment includes life imprisonment under section 6 of Pocso Act with Rs 50,000 as fine, and one year of simple imprisonment if the fine is not paid; one year of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and Rs 1000 fine under section 448 of IPC, failure to pay which would result in an addition one month of imprisonment; and five years of RI under section 366 A of IPC and Rs 5000 as fine, with three months of additional jail life in case of failure to pay.
The judge said that out of Rs 56,000, the victim would get Rs 50,000, and that she can file an application to the legal services authority to claim further compensation.
The court said that as the victim is mentally ill, she was subjected to competency test and was found eligible to record her statement.
Special public prosecutor Pushparaj Adyantaya represented the victim.