Additional District and Sessions Court (POSCO Special) in Kalaburagi has sentenced Sidram, a resident of Chandranagar at Kamalapur taluk of Kalaburagi district, to a 20-year imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl.
As per the case details provided by Shanthaveer B. Tuppad, Public Prosecutor (POCSO), the convict had lured the minor girl with a promise of marriage and raped her multiple times on and after April 4, 2021, at Bodhanwadi and Tumakuru.
Following a written complaint by the father of the victim, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Mahagaon Police Station in Kalaburagi district. Shankaragouda V. Patil, Circle Inspector of Police attached to Kalaburagi Rural Circle, investigated the case and upheld the charges levelled against the accused in the complaint under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 366(a) – procuration of minor girl – and 376(2)(n) – committing rape repeatedly on the same woman – and Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Hearing both sides and examining the chargesheet and the witnesses, Yamanappa Bammanagi, the Additional District and Sessions judge (POCSO Special), held Sidram guilty of crimes specified in the complaint and the chargesheet and convicted him.
The judge sentenced the convict to 20 years imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on him under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. He also sentenced the convict to seven years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on him under Section 366(a) of IPC. The judgement made it clear that the sentences would run concurrently.
The judge also directed the Legal Services Authority to pay ₹5 lakh to the victim within a month.
