THRISSUR: The first additional district judge, Thrissur, P N Vinod, has sentenced a 31-year-old man to 15 years and nine months of rigorous imprisonment for attempting to sexually abuse a 10-year-old girl, and subsequently attempting to kill her when she resisted.
The accused in the case is Ponthu Veettil Nikhil alias Cheppu of Valappad Chamakkala. The judge has also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him.
The incident took place in 2010 when the girl was Class IVstudent. The accused had gone to the girl’s house to collect the cable TV bill amount. He first tried to sexually abuse her when he realised that she was alone at home. When she resisted his attempt, he tried to strangulate her. He had also stabbed her in the stomach, according to prosecutor Liji Madhu. The incident came to light when her friends, who came to call her for playing, found her lying in a pool of blood.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
