HYDERABAD: Forensic evidence, including semen stains detected on a bedsheet using ultraviolet light, helped a POCSO court at LB Nagar convict 20-year-old Kanuku Mahesh and sentence him to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
On September 27, 2022, the victim, then a Class 7 student at a private school in LB Nagar, stepped out of her house while her mother was cooking. When she did not return for some time, her mother searched for her and saw the girl running back from a neighbouring house in tears.
Unable to get a response from the distressed child, the mother went to the neighbouring house, where she found Mahesh. When confronted, he fled.
Later, the victim disclosed that Mahesh had dragged her into his room from outside her gate, threatened to kill her if she screamed, and sexually assaulted her. Her mother then lodged a complaint with the police.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on forensic and medical evidence. The Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory (TGFSL) reported that seminal stains recovered from the bedsheet and the victim’s palazzo pants matched the DNA profile of the accused. A Fingerprint Unit officer testified that the forensic team detected suspected semen stains on the bedsheet using ultraviolet light and seized the material for examination.
The medical evidence also corroborated the prosecution’s case. A Civil Assistant Surgeon (OBG) at the government area hospital in Vanasthalipuram testified that the victim’s hymen was not intact and vaginal swabs tested positive for spermatozoa, indicating sexual assault.
The victim told the court that the accused’s sister lived opposite her house and that she often visited the family to play with the children. She recounted that Mahesh dragged her into his house, locked the door and assaulted her before she managed to escape and immediately informed her mother.
Rejecting the defence’s contention that the victim’s parents were not examined, the court held that the omission did not weaken the prosecution’s case, observing that “conviction relies on the quality of evidence, not the quantity of witnesses.”
Based on the evidence, the POCSO court at LB Nagar held that the prosecution had proved the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and convicted him under Sections 376(3), 342 and 506 of the IPC and Section 3(a) read with Section 4 of the POCSO Act.
