A nine-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man in Telangana's Karimnagar district on Monday. And just a day later, two others allegedly touched her inappropriately and sexually assaulted her.
One among the three accused is suspected to be a minor, while others are in the age group of 20-21. All three are neighbours of the victim in Karimnagar.
According to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of Karimnagar, it was found after an investigation that on February 24 that the girl was playing outside her house when one of them lured her to his house on some pretext, allegedly sexually assaulted her and let her go. “The following day, the three accused took her aside again to molest and her and touch her inappropriately,” the ACP told TNM.
Later, as the girl complained of pain in her private parts, her parents took her to a hospital and realised what had happened. They filed an official complaint with the police. The girl was later sent to a hospital for medical tests.
A case has been registered against one of the accused under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The charges against the other two accused will be registered soon, and the police will also finalise the relevant sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to book the accused under. Further investigations are ongoing. The police have taken all three accused into their custody.
In another case, a court in Hyderabad on Thursday sentenced a 62-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a boy in May 2019.
The First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Suneetha Kunchala found the man, a watchman, guilty under the POCSO Act, and sentenced him to 10-years rigorous imprisonment. Additionally, he has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under section 377 (unnatural offences) of the IPC. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to the prosecution, on May 8, 2019, the nine-year-old boy was playing near his relative's house when the man called him inside his room and committed the offence.
The boy later informed his mother that the man had been repeatedly doing such acts with him for many days and that due to fear, he had not told her earlier. The man was arrested after the mother filed a complaint.
With inputs from PTI