M’luru: Man gets 10-year RI for raping, impregnating minor girl

 

The additional district and sessions and fast track sessions court-2 here have sentenced a 42-year-old man to ten years rigorous imprisonment on finding him guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl.

The court judge K M Radhakrishna also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on the convicted person, Abdul Lathif (42) from Kandavara village.

As per the charge sheet, the accused owned a readymade garment shop at Kaikamba and the victim was working in the sales section of the outlet. In April 2017, when the girl complained of a headache, Lathif made her take a tablet along with juice and asked her to rest in the change room. When the girl was unconscious, Lathif sexually assaulted her. He blackmailed her by showing the video of the incident and sexually assaulted her a few more times.

The girl filed a complaint with the police on August 11, 2017, when she was four months pregnant. She then gave birth to a boy. The DNA report showed Lathif as the biological father of the child.

Though the victim and witnesses turned hostile in the case later, the judge relied on medical evidence and DNA report to convict Lathif, special public prosecutor Venkataramana Swamy said.

Lathif was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 50,000 was imposed for an offense punishable under section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Lathif was also sentenced to one year of imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 for the offense punishable under IPC section 506 (criminal intimidation).