Udupi: Father-son duo sentenced to 20 years in prison in POCSO case

Team Udayavani, Jun 16, 2023, 10:00 AM IST

Udupi: The Additional District Court and POCSO Court of Udupi sentenced a father and son duo to 20 years in prison in connection with the case of sexual assault on a minor girl that took place two years ago.

Shivashankar (58) and his son Sachin (28) from Davangere were charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl during the Covid lockdown period in 2022.

Shivashankar who was a friend of the victim’s mother lived in the same house.  During the lockdown period from April to October 2020, the mother left for work at 5 am, leaving the girl at home. Taking advantage of the girl being alone at home, Shivashankar developed physical relations with her on many occasions. Sachin who also visited the residence had sexually assaulted her in May of 2020, the charge sheet said.

The abuse came to light after the girl narrated her ordeal to her neighbour, who alerted the Child Helpline.

Child protection officers rescued the girl and filed a complaint against the accused at the Women’s Police Station. After an investigation, a chargesheet was submitted to the court.

Out of 22 witnesses, 15 witnesses were examined by the court. Despite the adverse testimony of the victim’s mother, Judge Shrinivas Suvarna, reached a guilty verdict considering the girl’s testimony as well as other circumstantial evidence.

The court sentenced Shrinivas and Sachin to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 10,000 each on charges related to rape; and 20 years of imprisonment and a Rs 10,000 fine each under the POCSO act. In case of failure to pay the fine and penalty, both will have to serve an additional sentence of one year, the order said.

The court order said that Rs 30,000 of the Rs 40,000 collected as fines must be transferred to the victim and the rest to be deposited with the government. The court also directed the government to pay an additional compensation of Rs 3 lakhs to the girl.

Special Public Prosecutor of Udupi Pocso Court Y.T. Raghavendra argued on behalf of the prosecution.