SIVAGANGA: A Special Court for the Exclusive Trial of Cases under the Pocso Act in Sivaganga on Monday sentenced a man to undergo 200 years of rigorous imprisonment for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and her 18-year-old sister in 2021.
Special Court Judge (In-charge) R Gokul Murugan found the accused, who is from the district, guilty of the charges and sentenced him to 100 years of imprisonment for each victim.
According to police, the victims’ mother had approached the man, who is an astrologer, seeking remedy because the girls were poor in studies. The man instructed her to bring the girls to his home for some rituals.
Upon their arrival, he confined the mother to one room and took the sisters to another and sexually assaulted them. Also, he threatened them that their parents would die if they disclosed the assault to anyone. Likewise, he repeated the same procedure for a few months.
The matter came to light two years later, in 2023, when the girls fell ill and were admitted to a hospital. Medical examination revealed the sexual assault and that the girls were HIV positive.
Based on alert, the man was booked by the Thirupattur All Women Police Station (AWPS) in 2023 under Sections 5(l), 6, and 5(j)(iii) of the Pocso Act, as well as Section 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST Act. He was arrested and lodged in Madurai Central Prison.
While the judge acquitted him of the charges under the SC/ST Act, he awarded two 50-year sentences per victim — 50 years under Sections 5(l) and 6, and an additional 50 years under Sections 5(j)(iii) and 6 of the Pocso Act.
Judge Gokul Murugan also imposed a fine on the convict. The court is likely to pronounce judgement against him in another case on Tuesday.