Kodagu man serving life term in POCSO case gets 46 more years for raping 14-year-old cousin

Kasaragod: A 41-year-old man serving a life sentence for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl in Kanhangad has been sentenced to another 46 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting his 14-year-old cousin.

The Hosdurg Special Court Judge Suresh P M on Wednesday sentenced the man, a native of Napoklu in Karnataka’s Kodagu district, to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000 under Section 6(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault. He was also sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 370(4) of the Indian Penal Code (trafficking of a minor).

The court awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹1,000 under Section 354A(2) of the IPC for sexual harassment, and another three years and a fine of ₹1,000 under Section 354B for disrobing the girl.

As the sentences will run concurrently, he will have to serve 30 years in prison. The fines total ₹62,000. In default of payment, he will have to undergo an additional one year and two months in prison, said the judgment.

The latest case dates to June 2, 2022, when he allegedly took his 14-year-old cousin on his motorcycle after assuring her parents that he would drop her at school. Instead, he took her to a forested area near Adhur on the pretext of showing her a monkey and sexually assaulted her.

He was out on bail in that case when he allegedly kidnapped the nine-year-old girl from a house in Kanhangad. The girl was sleeping when he took her away in the early hours after her grandfather, who had gone out to milk the cow, left the door ajar. He sexually assaulted the child and robbed her of her gold earrings.

In August 2025, the Hosdurg Fast Track Special Court convicted him in that case and later sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The initial investigation in the latest case, registered by Melparamba police, was conducted by Inspector K Damodaran. DySP Uthaman Das completed the investigation and filed the chargesheet. Special Public Prosecutor A Gangadharan appeared for the prosecution.