Hyderabad court sentences man to 20-year RI for raping minor

HYDERABAD: A 33-year-old, Lingala Deepak, was awarded rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and a fine of Rs 20,000 for raping a five-year-old girl of Nepali origin. B. Pushpalatha, Special Sessions Judge for POCSO cases, Hyderabad, who delivered the verdict on Tuesday, also announced Rs five lakh compensation to the girl. The case was registered at Mahankali police station in November 2023.
CCTV footage captured near the crime scene, showing the convict taking the girl with him, proved to be vital evidence. The Forensic Science Lab also analysed the footage and confirmed the persons captured in the footage were the convict and the survivor.
Further, statements of the girl during different stages of the investigation and trial, their neighbours who rescued the girl from the convict, her mother, medical reports proving that she was raped, and other circumstantial evidence proving the role of the convict in the crime were produced before the court.
Appreciating the evidence on record, the court found him guilty and awarded punishment to him, said K. Prathap Reddy, Additional Public Prosecutor. The case was investigated by Mahankali Station House Officer K. Parashuram and assisted by SI Paradeshi John, Constables J. Sai Kumar and L. Vamshi Krishna, and also Bharosa centre staff T. Kalpana and Uma.
Police said the girl’s parents worked at an apartment and stayed in the same building. On Nov 13, 2023, when the girl was playing in the corridor, Deepak, who worked as a labourer, lured the girl towards the terrace of the building. He made her lie on the stairs and raped her, leaving her severely injured on her private and other body parts.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)