CHENNAI: Days after a special court for POCSO cases convicted 15 persons in the 2018 Ayanavaram child rape case, judge RN Manjula on Monday sentenced five of them to life imprisonment and the remaining 10 to undergo imprisonment for five years.
R Ravikumar (56), M Suresh (32), N Abhishek (23) and N Palani (40) have been sentenced to undergo imprisonment until death while A Rajasekaran (40) has been sentenced to life with entitlement to be released prematurely on his application.
Defence counsel, throughout the case, argued that the entire incident was blown out of proportion.
They will appeal against the judgement at the Madras High Court. In a 233-page order, the judge said Section 6 and 10 of POCSO Act have been prove n against the five sentenced to life.
Gunasekaran, a gardener and convict number 15, was acquitted while another accused Babu (A10) died during trial.
Since all the accused have been in custody for the last 18 months, the judge did not impose any fine on them.
Referring to the compensation to be provided to the 12- year old victim, the judge observed, “In this case, repeated penetrative sexual assault and various other type of sexual assault, including gang sexual assault, are proved to have been committed on the child.”
Victim to be provided `6 lakh as compensation, observes judge
As per the National Legal Services Authority, Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/ Survivors of Sexual Assault/ other Crimes, the victim shall be provided `6 lakh as compensation, the judge observed.
Considering the mental and physical trauma undergone by the victim and her family, an interim compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh should be awarded, the judge said. In the case of Gunasekaran, who was acquitted, an appeal will be filed after consultations.
"The life imprisonment convicts were all found guilty under Section 6 and 10 of POCSO Act and also for kidnapping and threatening, which fall under IPC charges resulting in the imprisonment till death", he said.
The incident came to light on July 13, 2018, when the victim, a Class VII student, informed her elder sister that she was suffering from acute stomach pain. She also told her sister that she was raped, sometimes gang-raped, by the men working in the apartment complex they were living in.
Subsequently, her sister informed their parents, who filed a complaint at the Ayanavaram all-women police station. The police registered cases on July 16 and 17 of the accused were arrested.
After careful investigation, the police booked them under various Sections of the POCSO Act and the IPC.
The sensational case saw a total of 120 pieces of evidence picked up from the scene of crime and 81 witnesses which included doctors and magistrates.
The charge sheet alone ran up to 750 pages when the trial began on November 13. The trial closed for orders on December 6.
Teen held under POCSO Dindigul: A 17-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl, who, later died after she reportedly fell off a tractor driven by the boy’s brother on Sunday