A fast track court here on Tuesday sentenced a 40-year-old man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor mentally challenged boy in the city five years ago.
Thiruvananthapuram Fast Track Special Judge R. Jayakrishnan, who pronounced the verdict, found Rajan, 40, of Kunnathukal guilty of the crime that had occurred on February 27, 2016.
Having found the convict guilty under Section 9(k) (relating to sexual assault after taking advantage of the child’s mental or physical disability) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000, the default of which would lead to an additional sentence for a year. The fine amount will be given to the victim as compensation.
According to the prosecution led by special public prosecution Vijay Mohan R.S., the convict sexually abused the victim, who was then 16 years old, in a bathroom attached to the latter’s house under the Thampanoor police station limits when his mother had gone for work. He was spotted by two other witnesses in the locality at the time of the incident. Despite going absconding, he was later arrested by the Thampanoor police on November 21, 2016.
The prosecution presented nine witnesses and 11 exhibits as evidence.
