Published Sep 15, 2022 | 8:47 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 15, 2022 | 8:47 AM
Sexual assault of minor (Creative Commons)
A Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court at Malkajgiri in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 14 September, sentenced an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) to life in prison after convicting him for raping a 16-year-old girl.
The court also slapped a fine of ₹15,000 on the convict in the two-year-old case that was registered at the Malkajgiri police station under the IPC Sections 354 A (assault and outrage of the modesty of a woman forcefully), 376 (rape of a woman), relevant sections of POCSO and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The convict, Thankachan Lalu alias Lalu Sebastian (44), is a native of east Anandbagh ward in the Malkajgiri suburb of Medchal-Malkajgiri district, on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The case dates back to 7 December, 2020, when the Malkajgiri police registered it based on a complaint from the mother of the victim, who comes from a Dalit family.
According to the police, the accused was the neighbour of the victim in Malkajgiri and called her to his house in the absence of her family.
“After the victim’s parents left for their respective jobs, the victim and her younger sister used to stay at home. Lalu developed bad intentions towards the victim, saw an opportunity and called the victim to his house and raped her,” the police said.
The police said that the convict raped the victim in 2018 too in similar circumstances.
“In 2018, he called the victim to his house where he forced her to consume liquor. In an intoxicated state, he exploited her sexually and threatened her with dire consequences, if she disclosed the incident to anyone,” the police added.
As per the police, Lalu is also involved in a murder case.
“During the interrogation, Lalu confessed that he was also involved in a murder case, which is being investigated by Musheerabad police and the trial is going on in the Nampally court,” police said.
