73-year-old man sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment in twin POCSO cases

A 73-year-old man was sentenced to a total of 13 years of simple imprisonment in two cases for sexually abusing two ten-year-old girls. He has also been ordered to pay fine of ₹1.5 lakh.

The accused, who is bedridden, was brought to the court in an ambulance after a medical examination. Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) Thiruvananthapuram Judge Anju Meera Birla sentenced the accused to ten years of simple imprisonment and payment of ₹10 lakh as fine in one case and three years of imprisonment and payment of ₹50,000 as fine in the second.

Failure to pay the fine will entail an additional one-and-a-half years of additional imprisonment, the court said.

Special Public prosecutor R.S. Vijay Mohan appeared for the Prosecution.

The incidents pertaining to the case took place during 2021-22. The case against the accused is that he had molested the girls who came to his shop to make purchases. When their families came to know about it, the father of one of the children and the uncle of the second child beat up the accused.

The latter filed a case against the two men. The defence argued that the sexual abuse charges were trumped up against him to counter his complaint.

But the court did not accept this argument. The father of the child told the court that he had beaten the accused for molesting his daughter.