Chennai, June 23:
A special POCSO court in Chengalpattu has sentenced a 24-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl under the pretext of love.
The conviction was secured after a forensic DNA paternity test conclusively proved that the accused was the biological father of the child born to the victim.
The convict, identified as Karuna alias Karunakaran, 24, a resident of the Madipakkam area near Chennai, had developed an acquaintance with the 16-year-old girl from his neighborhood.
According to police records, Karunakaran sexually assaulted the minor multiple times under the guise of a romantic relationship, leading to her pregnancy.
The victim subsequently gave birth to a baby boy. Following the childbirth, when the minor confronted Karunakaran and requested him to marry her, he abandoned her. He refused the marriage proposal and falsely claimed that the infant was not his child.
Traumatized by the betrayal, the victim lodged a formal complaint at the Madipakkam All Women Police Station. The police registered a case and initiated a detailed investigation.
As part of the evidentiary probe, investigators ordered a forensic DNA profiling test, the results of which categorically established Karunakaran’s paternity, leaving no room for ambiguity.
The trial was conducted at the Chengalpattu District POCSO Court. Upon completion of the final arguments, Sessions Judge Naseema Banu delivered the verdict, finding Karunakaran guilty of aggravated sexual assault.
In addition to the 10-year rigorous prison term, the court imposed a fine of ₹1,000 on the convict, with a caveat that failure to pay the amount would attract an additional one year of imprisonment.