UDUPI: In a chilling crime that had left Udupi in a shock in 2018, journalist who was accused of sexually assaulting 21 school boys was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by a court while hearing two cases that came before it on Friday. Accused Chandra Hemmadi (44) was charged under POCSO Act. Rs 1,000 fine was slapped by POCSO Fast Track Court, Udupi on him by the court on Friday.
Chandra Hemmadi was arrested on November 29, 2018. As of now, he has been convicted in 11 cases out of 21 cases registered against him. He has been acquitted in eight cases due to lack of evidence. The court is expected to pronounce its verdict in the last two remaining cases on Saturday. Chandra allegedly sexually abused boys in the age group of 10 to 15, since 2014.
Hemmady, on the pretext of rural reporting for his newspaper, used to meet people and promise to solve their problems by writing about them. Unsuspecting parents used to send their sons with Hemmady who convinced them that he would show the boys the interiors of the district. Instead, he would lead them into secluded areas and sodomize them, sometimes at knife-point. He also used to visit schools and seek permission from teachers to allow him to teach singing to kids.
He was working as a journalist for over 10 years with various newspaper organizations. Chandra is married and has a daughter. Public Prosecutor Y T Raghavendra argued in favour of the prosecution.