The fast track court on Thursday convicted a 50-year-old construction labourer in a POCSO case and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹10,000. The Court also ordered a compensation of ₹4 lakh to be paid to the victim who was six years old when she was sexually assaulted by her neighbour, Muthu Poomale.
The incident took place in September 2015 while she was playing outside her house with other neighbourhood children. Knowing that her parents were away, Poomale dragged the girl into his house and assaulted her. “When her parents returned home to find her missing they asked her friends if they knew where their daughter was. The children told them that the ‘uncle’ had taken her to his house,” said a police officer.
Worried, the parents rushed to Poomale’s house to find that it was locked from the inside. They broke open the door and caught him with their daughter.
Based on their complaint, the police arrested under the POCSO Act where he was remanded into judicial custody. A charge-sheet was filed before the fast track court and Public Prosecutor K.V. Ashwath Narayana presented the case.
