The 6th Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sayeedunnisa, has sentenced Nagesh, a 30-year-old resident of K.R.Nagar, to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment on finding him guilty of sexually harassing and robbing a fourth-year MBBS student from Kerala in a women’s hostel in the city in 2017.
The Judge on Friday sentenced Nagesh to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment each for the offences under sections 457 (house breaking by night) and 397 (robbery) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and five years’ rigorous imprisonment each for offences under Sections 380 (theft) and 354 (assault of a woman with an intention to outrage her modesty) of IPC. The Judge imposed a total fine of ₹30,000 and said all sentences will run concurrently.
Nagesh was accused of entering the 3-floor of the hostel of a medical college in Deralakatte in the early hours of December 5, 2017. He did so from the rear side of the building by scaling up the 7-foot high compound wall. He stole a mobile phone of a third-year MBBS student on the third floor and then entered the room of the 22-year MBBS student, studying in her fourth year, on the second floor at around 4.30 a.m. as she had slept without locking the door from inside.
The accused sexually harassed her by tying her hands and legs and also closing her mouth with a bandage. He took ₹3,000 from her purse and made away with her ATM card. He removed ₹ 7,500 from two ATMs in the city and ₹200 from an ATM in K.R. Nagar. After getting treatment for injuries on her body, she filed a complaint with the Ullal police. He was arrested on December 10, 2017 and the then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) Uma Prashanth filed a chargesheet.
Public Prosecutor Jayaram Shetty examined 25 witnesses including the victim, her two hostel mates, the hostel warden and the hostel security officer.”"...Her (victim's) sole evidence is quite convincing and inspiring regarding happening of the incident...,” the Judge said in her 95-page judgment. The Judge asked the District Legal Services Authority to take steps for awarding compensation to the victim under the Karnataka Victim Compensation Scheme.
