As many as eight persons accused in sexual harassment cases have been sentenced to jail within a span of two months in Vizianaagaram district, thanks to quick filing of charge-sheets and completion of arguments and judgements in special court established to handle the cased filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act-2012.
With the directive from the High Court, Principal District and Sessions Judge B. Kalyan Chakravarthi and Special Judge of POCSO Cases K. Nagamani put special focus on expediting the case proceedings to ensure speedy justice for victims and their family members. Vizianagaram Superintendent of Police M. Deepika directed all the station house officers to file charge-sheets quickly in such heinous crimes.
A 19-year-old P. Durga rao of Polipalli village of Bhogapuram mandal was involved in a sexual offence with a four-year-old girl on November 25, 2020. Disha Police DSP R. Srinivasa Rao and Inspector B. Nageswara Rao produced evidence and filed the case in the special court. The special judge Nagamani sentenced Durga Rao to 40 years of imprisonment for different offences such as kidnap, harassment and others. Yalla Ganapati of Penubarthi village of Gurla mandal was sentenced to jail for 45 years. G. Laxmana of Pental village of Bobbili was also sentenced to 43 years and six months in jail.
A resident of Lankapatnam of Vizianagaram, P. Aravind, 20, has been sentenced to three years in jail in a case. The accused D. Prasad, Vikram Yesu, A. Satish and K.Ravikumar had been jailed in rape and sexual offences cases against minors. Additional Public Prosecutor M. Sankara Rao said that the victims would also get up to ₹5 lakh compensation from the government in POCSO cases.
