In a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) for sexually assaulting a young girl, a Kerala court sentenced fake antique merchant Monson Mavunkal to life in jail on June 17.
The Mavunkal repeatedly raped the little girl, according to Judge K Soman, by taking advantage of her family’s financial situation. At his house, he also terminated her pregnancy.
Mavunkal was the subject of an investigation by the Additional District and Session Court under the POCSO Act and Sections 370 (4), 342, 354 A (1) (iii), 354, (A), 376 (2) (n), 313, and 506 (i) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the prosecution’s evidence, the accused repeatedly raped the survivor, a 17-year-old minor girl, multiple times and also illegally terminated the minor’s pregnancy after being sexually assaulted. [1]
The little girl’s mother worked for the defendant and she and her brother resided in a run-down home. Taking advantage of the family’s dire circumstances, the accused offered to build a house and to educate the little girl cosmetology while posing as a cosmetology doctor.
The accused then displayed lewd images to the young girl on his iPad and made sexual advances towards her body. The accused then repeatedly raped the little girl, leading to her pregnancy. He then administered a tablet to the young girl while pretending it was a vitamin pill and placed another tablet into her vagina in order to unlawfully end her pregnancy.
The prosecution additionally stated that he persisted in abusing her sexually till she turned major.
All of the accusations were refuted by Mavunkal, who also claimed that his case had been made up by his opponents.
He further said that although the young girl had testified to the Crime Branch in connection with a cheating case filed against him, she had not brought up the charge of rape at that time.
The Court determined that Mavunkal had repeatedly raped the little girl after taking into account all of the relevant circumstances and evidence. [2]
As a result, it found him guilty, gave him a life sentence, and fined him 5.25 lakh rupees.
Case Title: State of Kerala v Monson MC
Written by- Himanshu Mishra, a student at St. Mother Teresa Law Degree College, Lucknow, 2nd Semester, an intern under Legal Vidhiya.
Reference:
[1] BAR AND BENCH, https://www.barandbench.com/news/kerala-court-sentences-fake-antique-dealer-monson-mavunkal-life-imprisonment-pocso-case (last visited on June 19, 2023);
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