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Mangaluru: The Second Additional District and Sessions Court and POCSO Special Court have sentenced a 28-year-old person with seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on him on Saturday, March 16. in a case involving sexual harassment of a four-and-half-year-old female child.
The convict is K M Ashraf, a resident of Babrukodi of Varkady village in Manjeshwar. According to the charge sheet, the accused Ashraf was a cable operator and he had been to victim’s house on December 23, 2014. As none was at the home except the victim child, he attempted to molest her sexually. When the victim screamed for help, the locals captured him and handed him over to Konaje police station. The then sub inspector of Konaje police station Sudhakar had filed a charge sheet against Ashraf under the POCSO Act.
During the hearing, Judge Pallavi B R upheld the arguments of Special Public Prosecutor C Venkatramana Swamy and convicted Ashraf. A sum of Rs 7.500 from the penalty amount would be paid to the victim who is also eligible to get compensation from the District Legal Services Authority, the Judge ruled.
