Kadapa man gets lifer in POCSO case

A young man was sentenced to life imprisonment by the POCSO Court in Kadapa on Tuesday for the rape and abetment to suicide of a minor girl in a case dating back to 2017.

A. Venkataramana, hailing from Dasaripalli in Duvvur mandal of Kadapa district, was accused of befriending a minor girl residing in Chennur Satellite city, luring her into sexual contact with a false promise of marriage.

The accused even declined to respond to her calls after the girl started accosting him and exerting pressure to marry her, forcing her to resort to the extreme step of ending her life. She consumed sleeping pills and breathed her last 10 days later, while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Chennur police registered a case based on a complaint by the family members of the victim and took Venkataramana into custody, shifted him to judicial remand following the court orders.

The eight-year trial came to a close on Tuesday, when the POCSO Court pronounced its verdict, sentencing him to life imprisonment and imposing a fine of ₹4,000.