Mangaluru : Additional district and sessions judge FTSC-II K M Radhakrishna has convicted a 42-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI), for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old minor girl.

The accused was sentenced to 10 years of RI, and fined Rs 50,000 for the offence, under Section 6 of the Pocso Act on Tuesday.

He will also undergo one year of imprisonment for the offence committed under IPC Section 506 (criminal intimidation), and pay a fine of Rs 10,000.

Providing details about the case, special public prosecutor Venkataramana Swamy said that the survivor was working as a salesgirl in a readymade garment shop owned by the accused.

The incident took place in April 2017. When the survivor complained of a headache, the accused allegedly gave her a tablet and juice, and asked her to rest in the changing room. She became unconscious, after which he raped her. Later, he told her that he had recorded a video of the act, and blackmailed her.

He continued to rape her, after which she filed a complaint at a police station on August 11, 2017, when she was four months pregnant.

Subsequently, she gave birth to a baby boy. After investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the accused, and the DNA report based on the blood sample of the accused, survivor and the baby, was submitted to the court.

“Despite the survivor and the witnesses turning hostile, the court passed the judgment against the accused, based on the medical evidence and DNA report. Another accused, with whom the survivor had shared her ordeal, has been acquitted. The survivor’s colleague had supported the accused, and asked the survivor not to disclose anything, as the shop’s reputation would be at stake,” Venkataramana Swamy said.