Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Feb 12: Nearly two-and-half-years after the incident came to light, the accused in the rape of a four-year-old girl of Madhavakripa School has been held guilty and sentenced to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
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The district and sessions court on Friday February 12 convicted Shubhakumar (26), a resident of Hebri, of sexually assaulting the girl, who was then a kindergarten student of Madhavakripa school. The incident had taken place on September 16, 2013, but came to light almost a week later.
Another accused in the case, Sudheer (48), a resident of Manipal has been acquitted of all charges.
The verdict was pronounced by judge Shivashanker Amarannavar.
Shubhakumar has been sentenced to 10 years of RI under IPC section 376 and six years of RI under two different sections of POCSO Act. During investigation, it came to light that while Sudheer had hit the girl and taken her inside the empty school bus, it was Shubakumar who tied her up and raped her.
Besides jail term, a penalty of Rs 13,000 has also been imposed on Shubhakumar.
The incident had created furore among parents of the school as well as people of the coastal region. On September 16, 2013, the girl had missed her regular school bus in the evening and was led into another bus, in which bus employee of the school Shubhakumar raped her before dropping her home by auto rickshaw. The distressed girl revealed the incident to the parents only two days later. The case was finally registered on September 20, after it was found that Shubhakumar had gone asbconding.
The parents of children studying in the school had held a strong protest. Meanwhile, the police swung into action and arrested Shubhkumar and Sudheer and booked them under POCSO. Yet another accused was said to be absconding.
Manipal probationary DySP Savita Hoogar filed the chargesheet, and upon completion of the hearing, Shubhakumar was pronounced guilty while Sudheer was acquitted.