KOCHI: The Idukki Fast Track Special Court hearing Pocso cases has sentenced a 64-year-old man to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.6 lakh for sexually abusing his seven-year-old grandson. Murikkassery police had booked a case based on a complaint filed by the boy’s grandmother in 2019.
The boy’s father was working as a nurse in New Delhi while his mother died years ago. The child was staying with his grandparents at Murikkassery. One day, the grandmother, who went to collect nutmeg from their farm, rushed home after it started raining and saw the old man abusing the child. She then filed a complaint.
Though the boy’s father turned hostile during trial, the grandmother stood firm, which helped prove the charge, said special public prosecutor S S Saneesh. The court examined 13 witnesses and considered 12 documents.
Special Judge T G Varghese sentenced the accused to 20 years rigorous imprisonment each under three sections of Pocso Act and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for each of them. He was awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 for unnatural sexual offences under IPC Section 377.
He was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act. As sentences will run concurrently, the accused will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and pay a fine of Rs 1.6 lakh. The amount collected as fine will be provided for the rehabilitation of the child.