Ongole Pocso Court sentences man to 20 years in prison for sexual assault on minor

Tirupati: The Ongole Pocso Court has sentenced a 35-year-old man to 20 years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 in connection with a case related to the sexual assault of a minor girl. The accused was found guilty of committing a crime against a 17-year-old girl from Kanigiri who had returned home for summer vacation in 2019.

Basha, who worked in the girl's father's mechanic shop, lured her to his house sexually assaluted her multiple time. He even took the minor girl to Hyderabad, where he subjected her to further sexual assault. Following the incident, a case was registered at the Kanigiri Police Station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

An investigation, led by sub-inspector D. Prasad and former Kandukur DSP K. Srinivasa Rao, resulted in the arrest of the accused, who was subsequently sent to remand. A charge sheet was filed in the court, and the case proceeded through the legal system. The special Pocso monitoring team, under the guidance of district SP Mallika Garg, conducted an effective trial through special public prosecutor Y. Venkateswarlu.

As a result, the accused was found guilty of the rape of the minor girl. After the hearings, Judge M.A. Somasekhar pronounced the verdict, sentencing Mahbub Basha to 20 years in prison and ordering him to pay a fine of Rs 3,000. Additionally, the judge directed the district legal service authority to provide compensation of Rs 50,000 to the survivor.