A Fast Track Special Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday sentenced a 54-year-old man to rigorous imprisonment for five years for sexually harassing a minor boy two years ago.
Special Judge R. Jayakrishnan found Vijayakumar of Kalady, near Manacaud, guilty of the crime that had taken place under the Thumba police stations on November 26, 2020. The court also imposed a fine of ₹ 25,000, a default of which would result in additional imprisonment of six months.
Vijayakumar was found to be guilty of the wrongdoing under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
According to the prosecution led by special public prosecutor R.S. Vijay Mohan, the convict had been hired by the survivor’s father for a work in their house. The nine-year-old boy was molested when he was standing on the verandah in the absence of his parents.
While Vijayakumar ran away on seeing another person approaching, he fled from the house after the survivor complained to his parents on being subjected to ‘bad touch’ by the worker. The Thumba police subsequently registered a case and arrested the accused.
The boy, who claimed to have been learnt lessons on ‘good touch and bad touch’ in his school, appealed the court during trial to punish the accused. The court ordered the government to provide the fine obtained from the convict as compensation to the survivor.
