The Thodupuzha POSCO court on Thursday, May 12, sentenced 36-year-old Arun Anand, accused of sexually abusing his partner’s four-year-old son, to 21 years of imprisonment as well as a Rs 4 lakh fine. Arun Anand is also an accused in the murder case of the four-year-old boy’s seven-year-old brother, whom he thrashed brutally in 2019, leading to the elder boy's death. Now, the POCSO court has also sentenced him under charges of physical torture and continued sexual abuse of a child below 12 years under his parental care.
According to Special Prosecutor PB Vahida, the court awarded 19 years of rigorous imprisonment and two years of simple imprisonment to Arun. Though he was sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment under various sections, he can undergo the sentence simultaneously for 15 years. The court also directed the district legal cell authorities to provide Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the victim.
In its order, the POCSO court said, "The victim needs relief and rehabilitation. As rightly pointed out by the prosecutor the victim and their relatives appear to be still under the trauma of sexual abuse. Of course, he is not from an impoverished family. Still, assurance is to be given to the victim, his family members, and the society that the state is always with its subjects and every violence is indirectly a failure of the state in protecting the victim.”
“The victim lost their elder brother. His father is no more. He is now under the care and custody of his paternal grandparents. Hence, having considered the entire circumstances, I recommend the payment of an amount of Rs 4,00,000 as compensation to the victim under section 33(8) of POSCO act r/w r, 9 of POSCO rules as relief and rehabilitation for the trauma undergone by the victim child on account of the violence committed against it. The district legal service authority, Thodupuzha shall ensure payment of compensation from the appropriate fund within 30 days of this order," the court added.
Arun Anand is lodged in the Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail in connection with the seven-year-old boy’s murder, and the trial of the murder case has not begun yet, the police told the court.
As per the prosecution, Arun was the partner of the mother of the two boys, and was later also accused of sexually abusing the four-year-old boy, in April 2019. The sexual abuse was revealed as the police conducted a probe into the seven-year-old victim's death, which took place on March 28, 2019, at the couple's rented home at Kumaramangalam near Thodupuzha in Kerala's Idukki district. The mother of the children was living with Anand after the death of her husband. Arun Anand, 36, brutally beat up and thrashed the seven-year-old boy, which left the boy with critical injuries including a fracture in the skull, ruptured lungs and a head injury, along with internal bleeding. After a 10-day battle on a ventilator, the boy succumbed to his injuries and died on April 6. The mother was also arrested for suppressing facts, and later got bail.
The seven-year-old victim’s four-year-old brother told the police that the accused allegedly sexually abused him as well as the victim. The police then registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) Act against Arun.