Fifth Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kothagudem, Mohd. Abdul Rafi, on Friday sentenced 40-year-old Dodda Sunil Kumar, who worked as a teacher in a mandal parishad primary school, to 20 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹ 10,000 on the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for serial sexual abuse of five minor girl students in Laxmidevipalli mandal in December last year.
The judge, holding full additional charge of special judge for trial of cases under the POCSO Act, further sentenced the convict to undergo simple imprisonment for one year and pay a fine of ₹ 1000 under Section 506 of the IPC.
It may be recalled that the horrific incident sparked widespread public outrage and protests by women’s organisations demanding stringent punishment to the accused who resorted to the heinous act on the pretext of “online instruction assistance” by taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced closure of schools at the fag-end of last year.
The accused was found guilty for the offences punishable under sections 376 AB, 376 C, 506 of IPC and Section 6 of POCSO Act and he has been convicted under Section 235 (2) of Cr. PC for the offences, sources said.
Superintendent of Police Sunil Dutt lauded the investigation team headed by Bhadrachalam ASP Vineeth for ensuring speedy investigation and trial into the case resulting in conviction of the accused in the shortest possible time.
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