Published Jun 27, 2026 | 5:14 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 27, 2026 | 5:17 PM
The trial exposed how M Manu systematically weaponised his authority to exploit aspiring athletes from 2012 to 2024.
Synopsis: Cricket coach Manu has been accused of sexually abusing minors under his care for several years. After one of the survivors confronted him in 2024, five others, too, came forward with similar complaints. The POCSO court has found him guilty in the fourth case, and the quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Monday.
The Thiruvananthapuram Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) has sentenced a cricket coach to 48 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a student.
Judge Anju Meera Birla, on Saturday, 27 June, delivered the judgment in the third of six cases filed against the accused, Manu M (40), a resident of Vallakadavu Srivaraham in Thiruvananthapuram. The court also found him guilty in the fourth case.
In addition to the prison term, the court also imposed a fine of ₹79,000 on him.
Crucially, the court ruled that the sentences in the cases will not run concurrently with the sentences in the previous two cases. It means the 48-year term will commence only after Manu serves the sentences handed down in the first two cases.
This decision follows a petition by the prosecution led by Special Public Prosecutor RS Vijay Mohan, which invoked Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure that the punishments for each distinct offence are served sequentially.
Delivering the quantum of punishment in the second case on Thursday, 25 June, Judge Birla had sentenced Manu to 35 years in prison and imposed a ₹66,000 fine on him for the systematic sexual abuse and blackmail of a minor trainee. Earlier in May, Manu was sentenced to 16 years in jail in the first case.
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The investigation in the third case, in which Manu was sentenced on Saturday, revealed a harrowing pattern of abuse dating back to 2018.
The survivor, who was then a fifth-grade student, was enrolled in a prominent city-based cricket coaching centre.
The accused reportedly exploited his position of authority, taking the child to isolated areas of the facility—including training nets, a gym, and various bathrooms—on the pretext of providing private coaching.
The investigation found that the coach coerced the child through threats, claiming that revealing the abuse would destroy the child’s prospects in cricket.
The survivor was even abused at her house, the prosecution said. Manu, in the pretext of providing private coaching, went to her residence and committed the crime.
Once the initial complaint was filed, several other girls came forward, leading to a total of six registered cases.
The court has now completed the trial for four of the six registered cases.
Having secured convictions in three instances, the court also formally found the accused guilty in the fourth case during today’s proceedings.
The sentencing in the fourth case is scheduled to be pronounced on Monday, 29 June.
(Inputs from Dileep V Kumar).
