Karnataka: Man convicted of raping 7-year-old girl in 2014, sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment

A 32-year-old man accused of raping a 7-year-old girl has been sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment by a special court in Shivamogga of Karnataka, reports ANI. 

According to the reports, the man named Bhaskara has been convicted of raping a 7-year-old girl. In 2014, the police had registered a case at the Mallur police station under the POCSO Act against the rape accused.

https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1203208557291663360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Special (POCSO) Court Judge KB Sivaprasad sentenced the man to imprisonment for ten years and also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on the convict. The Special court also directed the Karnataka government to provide a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the victim.

In case if the accused fails to pay the fine, his sentence will be extended by another six months, the court said. Special Government Prosecutor SK Murthy Rao represented on behalf of the government.

Read- ‘Save me, I don’t want to die, want to see them sentenced to death’: Unnao rape victim dies of cardiac arrest after suffering 90% burns

Talking about the crime, Rao said, “the accused, Bhaskara, who used to work as a coolie, had called the girl to her house under the pretext of offering prasad and then sexually assaulted her. She had then narrated the incident to the other girls and the caretaker.” He added that the matter was raised by a social activist from the area after listening to the ordeal of the girl.

He added that such cases should be dealt with in a year according to law. But as there is only one court, it is not possible to do so because of the huge backlog of cases.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia