Thiruvananthapuram: A 43-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment for trespassing into the house of an 11-year-old girl and assaulting her, causing grievous injuries, in retaliation for a police complaint.

The Thiruvananthapuram Additional District Judge, M P Shibu, delivered the verdict on Saturday. The court also imposed a fine of ₹40,000 on the convict, Girish, a resident of Muthana Ambalathumvila Lakshamveedu Colony in Chemmaruthi village. The incident occurred on June 3, 2011.

According to the prosecution, the girl’s mother had earlier approached the police after Girish repeatedly teased and verbally abused her children while they were going to and returning from school. Acting on the complaint, the police had issued a warning to him.

Enraged by the police action, Girish later trespassed into the girl’s house and assaulted her, hitting her on the head and inflicting serious injuries. The girl’s mother and sister also sustained injuries when they tried to intervene. Relatives and local residents rushed the injured child to the Varkala taluk hospital for treatment.

While pronouncing the sentence, the court observed that the accused did not deserve any leniency for brutally assaulting an 11-year-old girl after unlawfully entering her home. The court further ordered that Girish would have to undergo an additional year of imprisonment if he failed to pay the fine.

Former Varkala Police Inspector V Saijunath investigated the case and filed the charge sheet. During the trial, the prosecution examined 16 witnesses and produced 21 documents. Public Prosecutor Kattayikonam J K Ajith Prasad and advocate Bindu V C appeared for the prosecution.