Karnataka: Man gets 10-year jail for sexual assault of disabled girl

A complaint was lodged against him alleging that he had raped a 19-year-old girl, belonging to Scheduled Caste, on October 1, 2015, after promising to marry her.

Mangaluru: A court here has sentenced a man from Dakshina Kannada district to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a disabled girl in 2015.

Judge K P Preeti also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, Rajesh Rai (33), from Peruvai village of Bantwal taluk, who was charged under IPC Sections 376 (2) (1) and 448 for trespassing and rape.

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A complaint was lodged against him alleging that he had raped a 19-year-old girl, belonging to Scheduled Caste, on October 1, 2015, after promising to marry her. The girl, disabled due to ill-effects of endosulfan, was sexually assaulted when her parents were away for work.

Endosulfan was used widely on crops like cashew, cotton, tea, and fruits till 2011 in Kasaragod in Kerala, after which its production and distribution were banned due to several reports of ill effects on humans.

The case was investigated by ASP Rahul Kumar, who had filed a charge sheet under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act. Of the total 27 witnesses in the case, 14 were examined during the trial, public prosecutor Preethi Pramod Nayak said.

The district legal services authority has also been directed to pay compensation to the victim.