KOCHI: The Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court on Monday found Shobha John,43, the first accused and eighth accused Jayarajan Nair,73, a former Army officer, guilty in the Varapuzha sex scandal case. The court on Tuesday will pronounce the quantum of sentence after hearing the summing up arguments of the prosecution and defence counsel.
The court found the accused guilty under IPC Sections 376 (rape), 366 (A) (procuring minor girl), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 506 (2) (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
Five others arraigned in the case,including the victim’s close relative Pushpavathy and husband Vinod Kumar, ‘Cape’ Ani aka Anil Kumar of Thiruvuananthapuram, Jinson Jose, Byju P Varghese were let off due to lack of evidence. Another accused Binil Kumar, henchman of Shobha John, died during the trial.The victim had been taken to several places in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2011.