Kerala Man Sentenced 142 Years Jail For Raping Minor: 10 Things To Know

A 41-year-old man was sentenced to 142 years of imprisonment and fined Rs 5 lakh by a Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Kerala's Pathanamthitta for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl for two years.

The POCSO court sentenced the man to the punishment and warned that if the accused did not pay the fee, he would serve an additional three years in prison. This is the longest sentence that has ever been given to an accused in a Pocso case in the district. The case was reported by the news agency PTI.

Kerala rape case: Here are 10 things to know

- The Tiruvalla police filed a case against a man on March 20, 2021, alleging that he raped a 10-year-old child between 2019 and 2021 and brutally assaulted her many times throughout those two years.

- The witness accounts, medical records, and other evidence, according to the police, significantly favoured the prosecution.

- The man's name is reported as Anandan PR, also known as Babu. Babu was a relative who shared a house with the child's parents in the past.

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- Judge Jayakumar John of the Pathanamthitta Additional District and Sessions Court (principal POCSO) sentenced Babu to 142 years in prison and imposed a fine of 5 lakh against him.

-The Pathanamthitta District police stated, "In the case where principal Pocso prosecutor advocate Jason Mathews appeared for the prosecution, the witness statements, medical records and evidence were strong in favor of the prosecution. Harilal, who was Tiruvalla police inspector, registered the case and conducted the investigation and filed the charge sheet in court."

- According to a police statement, this punishment set a district record for the protection of children from sexual offences act cases. However, it was later claimed that the man would only have to serve 60 years in prison.
-The man has been found guilty in accordance with a number of POCSO Act sections and IPC Section 506 (criminal intimidation).

- According to media sources, the accused was sentenced to three further years in prison if he didn't pay the fine, which is the district's maximum penalty for an accused in a POSCO case.