A special court here, constituted solely to try cases charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Wednesday sentenced the four men found guilty of sexually exploiting a teenage girl, Shari, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.25,000.
The sentenced men in the “Kiliroor sex scandal case” are P. Praveen, M. Manoj, A. Binu alias Kochumon, and A. Prasanth. The court had on Monday found them guilty of gang rape, criminal conspiracy, and criminal intimidation.
CBI judge T.S. P. Moosath sentenced Binu to additional five years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000 after he found him furthermore guilty of procuring a minor girl, in this case Shari, with the intention of forcing or seducing her to commit illicit intercourse.
The court found it was through Binu that the rest of the accused, including the fourth accused Latha Nair, had met Shari. The court sentenced Latha Nair to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000 after it found her guilty of criminal conspiracy.
The sentences would run concurrently. In the event the accused failed to pay the fine, they would have to serve an additional six months to one year in prison.
Plea for leniency
The court ordered that the fine amount, if realised from the accused, be paid to the parents of the deceased Shari, who were the guardians of her eight-year-old daughter.
The accused pleaded that the court show them maximum leniency on the ground that they were the sole breadwinners for their respective families.
Victim's death
CBI special prosecutor K.P. Sateeshan said the case related to the sexual exploitation of a minor girl from a poor family on the promise of getting her chances in TV serials.
He pointed out that the age of the accused men ranged from 24 to 45 and the court should not extend them the benefits of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1985.
They “exploited the desire” of a minor girl to become an actor, lured her to different places, and subjected her to illicit intercourse. He said that they should be given the maximum sentence.
Mr. Moosath observed that the prosecution had no case that Shari's death had got any connection with the alleged offences committed by the accused persons. She had died of “septicaemia” following an abdominal surgery after she gave birth to an infant girl. There was no dispute regarding these facts.
The court acquitted Somanathan alias Soman, who the CBI had arraigned as the seventh accused in the case on the charge of abetting the crime. The court said the CBI failed to prove that Soman had intentionally aided the suspects.
“Mere failure to prevent the commission of an offence is not by itself an abetment of the offence,” the Judge Moosath said.
