A POCSO Fast Track Special Court in Thiruvananthapuram sentenced a 31-year old IT professional to rigorous imprisonment for three years for sexually assaulting a minor girl. Special Judge R. Jayakrishnan found Ulloor native Aaron Lal Vincent, employee at a software firm in Technopark, guilty of the crime which took place near Edapazhinji on October 21, 2017.
Aaron was sentenced to three years RI under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and three years RI under the Section 354 of the IPC. The sentences will run concurrently. The Court also imposed a fine of ₹25,000, with six months additional RI for defaulting the fine.
According to the prosecution, the convict had groped the 17-year old girl while she was waiting to negotiate a water-logged lane near her house, after returning from school. She had immediately resisted him and made a loud noise. Though he had a helmet on, his face was not covered and she had seen his face. After she made the noise, the convict had fled from the scene in a motorcycle parked nearby. The girl had also noted down the registration number of the motorcycle in which he had fled.
After she narrated the incident to her mother, the footage from a CCTV camera installed in the area was retrieved with the help of the residents association. The footage, in which the face of the accused was visible and identifiable, was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory for detailed examination and was found to be genuine. Later, the girl had also identified the photograph of the convict and told the police that it was the person who assaulted her.
The convict, who had denied the incriminating circumstances and evidences, had claimed that he was busy with his marriage arrangements and had no connection to the case, but the Court dismissed these claims.
