PUDUCHERRY: A special court handling cases booked under the Protection of children from sexual offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 sentenced a 23-year-old engineer to undergo 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at Mahe, Puducherry’s enclave in Kerala in 2021.
Special judge (Pocso) V Sofana Devi also sentenced the engineer M K Jyothilal from Thalassery, Kannur district, Kerala to undergo seven years of rigorous imprisonment for trespassing the minor survivor's house to commit the crime.
Both terms will run concurrently.
The special judge directed the Puducherry government to provide a compensation of Rs four lakh to the minor survivor. Special public prosecutor (Pocso) S Patcheappan said Jyothilal trespassed into the minor survivor’s house and sexually assaulted her. Palloor police in Mahe booked him under section 6 of the Pocso act and section 449 of the Indian penal code and arrested him.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
