Court upholds testimony of minors sentences man to 25-years RI for sexually assaulting 4-yr girl

Hyderabad, Apr 21 (PTI) A city court has upheld the testimonies of two minor girls--a victim and her friend and sentenced a 40-year-old man to 25 years (RI) for sexually assaulting the former, who belongs to SC community. The incident happened in February 2023.

    The XII Additional Sessions Judge on April 11 found the accused, a house-keeping staffer, guilty under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015.
    The accused was sentenced to undergo 25 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) and pay a fine of Rs 5,000 for the offence under POCSO Act. He was further sentenced to undergo RI for life under relevant provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015. Both the sentences shall run concurrently.

    The court also awarded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim.
    The prosecution through the evidence of the survivor and her friend proved that the accused committed penetrative sexual assault on the victim girl, the court said in its order.
    
    According to the prosecution, the accused, who resided in the same building as a tenant in which the survivor along with her family stayed, called her when she was playing with her friend and her brother.
The accused called her inside his house and sent away the victim’s friend and other children. He committed sexual assault on her and threatened her that if she discloses the incident to her mother, he will beat her up and spray chilli powder into her eyes.
    The victim's friend informed her aunt, who in turn alerted the affected girl's mother about the incident.
    The child's mother lodged a complaint with the police, based on which a case was registered and the accused was subsequently arrested.
    The court in its judgment said the statements of the survivor and her friend are not suffering with any exaggerations and contradictions, and their evidence is trustworthy.
    "There was no reason to disbelieve the testimony of the victim girl and we can place reliance on her evidence," it said while detailing the chronology of events pertaining to the assault.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)