On June 17, a Kerala Court sentenced face antique dealer Monson Mavunkal to life imprisonment in a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) for getting into the act of sexually abusing a minor girl.
Judge of the Court K Soman said that the accused person committed rape on the minor girl repeatedly by exploiting the financial condition of her family. He also terminated her pregnancy which took place at his residence.
According to the prosecution case, the accused had raped the minor girl who was only 17-year-old that time. Due to this, she had conceived and the accused had also unlawfully aborted her pregnancy.
The mother and brother of the minor girl were working in the office of the accused and were living in a dilapidated house. Taking advantage of the miserable family condition of the girl, the accused offered to construct a house and teach the girl cosmetology by mispresenting himself as a cosmetology doctor.
He showed obscene pictures to the minor girl on his iPad and touched her body with the intent of making a sexual relationship. Thereafter, he committed rape on the minor girl several times and she got pregnant. Subsequently, he aborted her by giving a tablet to the girl misrepresenting it to be a vitamin tablet and also inserting another tablet inside her vagina.
He continued to do this act of sexually abusing her until she turned major, the prosecution alleged further.
The accused Mavunkal denied all the allegations and contended that the case was falsely created at the instance of his rivals.
Furthermore, he contended that the minor girl had made a statement before the Crime Branch related to a cheating case against him but had not put any rape allegation against him at that time.
After considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the evidence on record, the Court found Mavunkal guilty in the case of sexually abusing and repeatedly raping the minor girl.
As a result, the Court convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹ 5.25 lakh on him.
Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/kerala-court-sentences-fake-antique-dealer-monson-mavunkal-life-imprisonment-pocso-case