Hyderabad: For the first time, a special court for trial of cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act sentenced a Home Guard to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old differently-abled girl and impregnating her.
The court asked the Home Guard to pay a fine of Rs 40,000 and if he failed to do so, he should undergo simple imprisonment for one more year. The first Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge cum Special Judge for trial of cases under POCSO Act, Suneetha Kunchala held the Home Guard guilty. The accused was further sentenced to two years imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 for threatening the girl to kill if she disclose the matter to anyone.
The court, which delivered the judgment in 164 days, also sentenced him to life imprisonment for the offence committed under SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and to pay a fine of Rs 5,000. All the sentences against the accused will run concurrently.
Of the total fine of Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 should be paid to the victim towards compensation for her mental agony, the court ordered. The court was of the considered opinion that the girl must be compensated for her physical and mental sufferance as the sexual assault was committed on her.
As a result, she became pregnant and her pregnancy was terminated. The court directed the District Legal Services Authority to take steps for paying Rs 7 lakh as compensation to the victim at the earliest.
According to the prosecution, the girl, along with her family was residing in a two-room house let out on rent by the Home Guard’s grandmother. The girl’s family vacated the house as rainwater used to enter it. The incident came to light when the girl was taken to a hospital after she missed her regular menstrual cycle. The doctors confirmed that she was five months pregnant.
After being grilled, the girl informed that the Home Guard violated her. Based on a complaint lodged in February 2021, the police booked a case and arrested the Home Guard. The police filed the charge sheet in May.
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