Youth handed 20-year jail term in POCSO case in Karnataka

Mangaluru:  A fast-track POCSO court in Udupi district of Karnataka has sentenced a youth to rigorous imprisonment of 20 years for raping a girl from Byndoor on multiple occasions after befriending her.

The Udupi district additional and sessions court handed out the punishment to 23-year-old Sahil for raping the girl around two years ago.

According to the chargesheet, Sahil was working in a shop near a hotel in Sagar town of Shivamogga district. The victim, a native of Byndoor in Udupi, was residing at Sagar as her father owns the hotel there. The youth entered into a relationship with her.

In July 2021, Sahil travelled to Byndoor for the girl's birthday celebrations. After the birthday party, he took the victim to a deserted place and raped her. The youth promised to marry her and repeatedly committed the act after the first incident, the chargesheet said.

When the victim's mother came to know about the relationship, she filed a complaint at Byndoor police station. The then police inspector Santhosh Kaykini had filed the chargesheet in the case.

Fast track court judge Srinivas Suvarna, who considered the circumstantial evidence in the case, pronounced the accused as guilty and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 22,500.

The court has also directed the government provide Rs 1.5 lakh compensation to the victim. Special public prosecutor Y T Raghavendra appeared for the prosecution.