Hyderabad: A Hyderabad court sentenced a 45-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a second-grade girl at his residence in Kondapur in 2023.
The Fast Track Special Judge for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases also fined the convict, Meenagala Venugopal, Rs 3,000 and Rs 3 lakh in victim compensation.
A native of Andhra Pradesh, the accused Meenagala Venugopal alias Venu lived close to the minor victim in Kondapur. He would take the girl to his home and raped her on multiple occasions, according to a release by A Muthyam Reddy, Cyberabad Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Venu threatened the girl not to disclose the incident to anyone. The survivor later informed her mother, after which a complaint was lodged with the police on May 16, 2023.
A medical examination by a civil surgeon revealed injuries consistent with sexual assault, which forensic tests further verified.
After the results, the police took the girl’s clothes and bedsheet used during the crime for investigation. Authorities also recorded statements from the girl’s family, witnesses, and forensic experts and arrested the accused on May 18, 2023. Venu was produced before the court after a charge sheet was filed.
The fast track court subsequently convicted the accused, sentencing him to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposing a Rs 3,000 fine and Rs 3 lakh compensation to the survivor.
