A special court on Friday sentenced Santhosh Kumar, accused in the sexual assault-cum-murder of a seven-year-old girl from a village near Thudiyalur in March, to death.
This is the first verdict pronounced by the Special Court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act cases, inaugurated at the Combined Court Complex on December 18.
Judge J. Radhika pronounced the verdict to a packed court hall.
She sentenced the accused to death under Section 302 (murder) and to seven years of imprisonment under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code.
In addition to this, the accused was sentenced to imprisonment till death under Sections 5 (l) (Penetrative sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly); 5 (m) (Penetrative sexual assault on a child below 12 years) and 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Pocso Act.
The accused has to pay a fine of ₹2,000, according to the verdict.
The court ordered further investigation on the petition filed by the victim’s mother on Thursday, regarding the involvement of another man, based on the findings of the forensic report.
The verdict comes nine months after the police confirmed that the victim was sexually assaulted, based on autopsy findings on March 27.
On March 25, the seven-year-old girl was found dead and the police confirmed subsequently that she was raped and murdered. Following investigations, the Thudiyalur all-women police arrested Santhosh Kumar, 32, of Uliyampalayam in Thondamuthur, on March 31, and remanded him in judicial custody at the Coimbatore Central Prison.
The trial in the case began on October 16, with Judge Radhika in the Bench.
The prosecution on completed arguments on December 16, where Special Public Prosecutor U. Sankaranarayanan sought maximum punishment for the accused. S. Kingsley, legal aid lawyer who appeared as the Defence Counsel, made his arguments on December 19.
