Two persons were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of seven years for raping a minor girl from Paravur. Three others, including the girl’s father, were sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment each for forcing the girl into sex trade and selling her for prostitution.
The sentence was pronounced on Thursday by the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court in two cases related to the rape of a minor girl from Paravur in 2009 and 2010.
The girl’s father, Sudheer, was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in both the cases. Mary Daisy of Kuruppath parambu and Jose of Thrikkakara were both sentenced to five years’ RI and a fine of Rs.75,000 each. Sudheer met the duo at Gandhi Nagar in Kochi on May 3, 2009, and handed the child over to them. Mary Daisy and Jose took the girl in a car to a hotel at Panampilly Nagar, where fifth accused Manoj Gopi of Kattappana was present. He paid a sum of Rs.20,000 for the girl and he took the girl along with Sudheer and Mary Daisy to a flat near Tatapuram. Manoj raped the child and did so on several occasions in the following months. He was sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.75,000.
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In the second case, the court found Sudheer, Jose, and a man named Benny Abraham from Muttom guilty. Sudheer handed the girl over to Jose at Edappally in April 2010, who took the girl to Vyttila and handed her over to Benny. Benny paid a sum of Rs.15,000 for the girl and took her to his outhouse at Muttom. He raped the girl repeatedly. Benny was sentenced to seven years’ RI and Rs.85,000 fine. The many instances in which the girl’s father sold her to many men came to light after the child’s grandmother took her to the police a few months later.