COIMBATORE: The mahila court here on Friday convicted and sentenced a 57-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping a girl at special school and home for the mentally challenged.
R Sarojini, the special public prosecutor (Mahila court), said that P Vanagamudi (57) of Thirumalai Street in Coimbatore, who was working as the warden of a home, had repeatedly raped a speech-impaired girl staying at the facility.
The warden’s torture came to light when a team from the People’s Welfare Association of Coimbatore visited the facility some time ago.
Based on a complaint from the association Karamadai police registered a case under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC against the warden.
When the case came up for hearing on Friday, M P Subramanian, judge of the mahila court convicted and sentenced Vanagamudi to life imprisonment for rape and seven years for criminal intimidation. He also slapped a af ine of `15,000 on Vanagamudi.
If the convict failed to pay the fine, he should serve an additional prison term. The sentences are to run concurrently, the judge said. Earlier, in December last year, judge Subramanian, along with the SPP visited the home and held an inquiry with the victim.