VIZIANAGARAM: A special judge for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram on Tuesday sentenced a 62-year-old-man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000.
The police said that the Class V girl student was living with her parents under Salur Town police station limits in the undivided Vizianagaram district (now in Parvathipuram Manyam district).
While the victim girl was playing with her friends in her street on April 12, 2021, a woman tailor, Latha, asked the girl to hand over the new garments to a customer belonging to the neighbouring street.
When the girl was returning after delivering the clothes, she lost her hairband.
While she was searching the hairband, the accused, Naidu Satyanarayana, lured the girl with a Rs 10 currency.
Though the girl refused to take the amount, the accused forcibly took her to his home, threatened with a scissor and raped her.
Due to fear, the girl didn’t disclose the incident to her family members.
The crime came to light on April 25, 2021 when the victim narrated the entire episode to her mother and elder brother.
The girl’s father lodged a complaint with the Salur police station.
Based on the complaint from the victim’s father, the police registered a case against the accused under Section 376 of the IPC and relevant sections under the POCSO Act 2012 and nabbed the accused.
The police later filed the charge-sheet.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault.)
