Life term for 80-yr-old rapist upheld

Dismissing the criminal appeal filed by the accused Somasundaram @Kanagaraj against the sentence accorded by the Mahila Sessions Court in 2012, a division bench comprising Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice V Bharathidasan said, “The trauma caused by the act of the accused would be everlasting and the depression out of the said trauma will have an impact on the children. Therefore, we are not inclined to interfere with the conviction and sentence imposed on the accused.” 

The bench also held: “From the testimonies of the victim girls coupled with t h e medical evidence, we are fully convinced that the prosecution has proved all the charges against the accused beyond any reasonable doubt. Thus the trial court was right in convicting the accused.” 

As per the prosecution on March 1, 2010, when the parents and the family members of the victim girls’ left for work, the accused aged 74 years at that time took three girls aged 12, 11 and 10 at different times to his house and made them watch an obscene film on television. 

Then, despite their resistance, he had sexual intercourse with them by tying up their legs and hands with a rope. He also closed the mouth of one of the victims while raping her. He also threatened the three girls from disclosing anything about the incident to anyone. But after some time, when one of the girls complained to her mother of abdominal pain, her mother took her to hospital where on examination it was found that the said girl was sexually exploited. 

Then the mother complained at the All Women Police Station, Royapuram, who took up the investigation and found that the accused committed offence on all the three minor girls.