The Additional District and Sessions Court for the trial of atrocities and sexual violence against women and children here on Wednesday sentenced a person to rigorous life imprisonment and slapped him with a fine of ₹1.25 lakh after being convicted in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the abduction and rape of a minor girl.
The convict is Sanal Kumar, 45, of Pathanamthitta. Incidentally, he is the ninth accused in the actor assault case.
He was sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of ₹25,000 for abduction, and rigorous life imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh for rape. The life imprisonment will kick in after he completes 10 years in jail.
He is accused of abducting the 14-year-old victim from Ernakulam and raping her multiple times in Tamil Nadu in 2013. The perpetrator and victim were tracked down by the Kalamassery police after four days on a petition by the victim’s father.
He had gone into hiding after being granted bail in the case. Later, he was arrested and remanded in a marriage fraud case registered by the Maradu police. It was then that he got acquainted with ‘Pulsar’ Suni, the key accused in the actor assault case, and allegedly helped hide the mobile phone used by Suni to call actor Dileep, according to the police.
The investigation team later recovered the phone from his house following which he was arraigned in as the ninth accused in the case. He again went into hiding after being granted bail in that case. He was arrested by the investigation officer in the actor assault case in 2019.
He was produced in court in the POCSO case on a warrant issued by the court. The trial in the case was delayed by seven years following his continued absconding. Prosecution cross-examined nine witnesses in the case and produced 14 documents and four pieces of evidence.
Judge K. Soman, in his verdict, observed that the convict deserved no mercy since he had committed the crime taking advantage of the victim’s trust in him. The fine collected will be given to the victim. Kalamassery Sub Inspector M.B. Latheef had probed the case and filed the charge sheet in the court.
Special Public Prosecutor P.A. Bindu and Adv. Sarun Mankara appeared for the prosecution.
