THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fast-track special court here has sentenced a 56-year-old teacher to 161 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 87,000 for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old autistic boy. The accused, Santhosh Kumar, a native of Powdikonam, was convicted by Special Court Judge Anju Meera Birla.
The sentence was awarded under multiple sections, with the court clarifying that the sentences shall run concurrently and the accused need to serve a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment. The court ordered that failure to pay the fine would result in an additional eight-and-a-half years of imprisonment. In addition to the fine, the court directed that compensation be paid to the survivor through the Legal Services Authority.
The incident took place in July 2019. The victim, a native of Kannur, was living in Thiruvananthapuram for autism-related treatment and was studying in Class III at a school in the city, where the accused was a teacher. The prosecution said the accused sexually assaulted the child by exploiting his disability.
The abuse came to light after the child, who had been showing improvement through treatment, suddenly began exhibiting uncontrollable behavioural outbursts. The child’s mother noticed injuries on his body, but the child, who had difficulty speaking, was unable to clearly explain what had happened. The child had a habit of writing or drawing his experiences in a notebook and details of the abuse were found recorded there.
Eventually, the child disclosed the incidents with the help of his speech therapist. As the child’s statements were unclear, the police recorded his testimony again based on the directions of the Child Welfare Committee, after forming a three-member panel that included a doctor from the Mental Health Centre.
The prosecution said the accused assaulted the child multiple times in the school bathroom. He allegedly threatened to kill the child’s mother whenever the child resisted or cried, and physically assaulted the child by banging his head against the wall. The accused is also said to have lured the child with sweets and biscuits.