On Thursday, 20 August, a special court for POCSO cases in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, sentenced a 47-year-old preacher, S Abraham, to death for sexually assaulting four minor girls over a period of nearly two years. The court awarded the death penalty separately for each of the four cases and also ordered compensation of Rs 10 lakh for each victim.
The convicted Christian preacher S Abraham was found guilty of sexually assaulting the girls during the period between 2020 and 2022. The incidents came to light after one of the victims, an eight-year-old girl from Thevarkulam, complained of pain in her private parts in 2022.
Her mother took her to a hospital for treatment, where it was found that the child had been sexually assaulted. After the girl shared what had happened to her, three other girls from the same extended family also told their mothers that Abraham had sexually assaulted them.
Abuse began during the COVID-19 lockdown
According to the police, the abuse began during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and continued until 2022, when the eight-year-old girl finally revealed what had happened.
The other three victims were between 11 and 12 years old and were relatives of the first complainant. Police said Abraham used to take the children to deserted places in their neighbourhood on the excuse of teaching them the Bible and music.
He also sexually assaulted some of the girls at his church, where he conducted music classes. Police said Abraham had threatened the children with harm if they told anyone about what was happening.
Tirunelveli Superintendent of Police Vishwesh Balasubramaniam Shastri said the assaults continued for nearly two years before the case came to light through the eight-year-old girl’s disclosure.
Abraham was arrested in 2022 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Case officer scheme helped speed up trial
The trial gained pace in 2026 after the Tirunelveli police introduced a ‘case officer’ scheme to speed up pending POCSO cases. Under the scheme, each case was handed over to a dedicated team responsible for closely following the investigation and trial.
This case was assigned to a team led by Additional Superintendent of Police K Shanmugham. Police said the team worked closely on the case and its progress was reviewed every week.
The case brought to conviction within six months after being taken up under the scheme.
The police team and Special Public Prosecutor P Usha also helped the victims and other witnesses prepare before giving their statements in court and facing cross-examination.
Medical evidence and witness statements key to conviction of Christian preacher S Abraham
Special Public Prosecutor P Usha said medical evidence collected during the investigation by officer Radha played an important role in helping the prosecution establish penetrative sexual assault.
All four girls, along with their parents and other witnesses, gave their statements during the trial.
After examining the evidence and witness statements, Judge Suresh Kumar found Abraham guilty on all four counts of sexual assault and sentenced him to death in each case.
The court also directed that each of the four victims be given Rs 10 lakh as compensation.
The conviction marks the end of a case that began with the disclosure of an eight-year-old girl in 2022 and later brought out the experiences of three other minor girls from the same extended family. The police said the focused monitoring of the case, regular reviews, medical evidence and witness support helped bring the case to a conclusion within six months under the new case officer scheme.
