KOCHI: Fake antique dealer Monsoon Mavunkal was on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment after a special POCSO court in Ernakulam found him guilty of sexually assaulting a minor girl. The special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case court found him guilty of sexually harassing his domestic helper's minor daughter multiple times.

"Fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal was pronounced guilty in the rape case of a minor. The Special POCSO Court in Kochi pronounced the verdict today. He had sexually harassed his domestic helper's minor daughter multiple times," said a prosecutor.

Mavungal was sentenced to life imprisonment under two sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). "The Kochi special POCSO court sentenced Monson Mavungal to life imprisonment until the reminder of his natural life in two sections under the IPC. Sections 376(2)(n) and 376(2)(f)," said the procecutor. Monson Mavunkal is accused of allegedly swindling crores of rupees by selling fake antiquities. The Crime Branch of Kerala Police arrested him on November 6, 2021. Mavunkal had pretended to be a collector of artefacts and relics over the last several years and cheated people of over Rs 10 crore.

As per a report, Mavunkal had claimed that his precious antique collection includes a throne of Tipu Sultan, the first edition of the Holy Bible, books used by Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji, the last Mughal emperor Aurangazeb and Mysore Sultan Tipu Sultan.