Udupi: A special POCSO fast track court at the Udupi District Additional and Sessions Court on Tuesday February 7 sentenced a stepfather to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl.
The accused has been identified as Ganesh Naik (49). The victim’s mother had a second marriage with Ganesh Naik, after which the accused and the victim lived together. In October 2021, when the girl’s mother had gone to work in another village, the accused had mixed liquor in the juice and forced her to drink it. When her mother returned home after three months, she found that the girl was pregnant.
On enquiring about the incident, the girl told her mother that her foster father had molested her.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kundapur Police Station on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother on January 22, 2022.
The chargesheet was filed in the court against the accused.
Out of the total 33 witnesses, 10 witnesses were examined. Judge Srinivas Suvarna convicted the accused after considering the testimony of the aggrieved girl and the circumstantial evidence and the DNA report.
Accordingly, the accused has been sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs. 10,000.
A fine and an additional jail term of one year in case of default and a fine of Rs. 10,000 for committing rape of the girl. A fine of Rs. 20,000 has been imposed. The fine includes Rs. 15,000 for the girl and Rs. 5,000 for the Government. The court has ordered the Government to give a compensation of Rs. 3 Lakh to the victim.
