Puducherry man aged 79 gets jail term for sexually assaulting 4-year-old girl

PUDUCHERRY: A special court in Puducherry has sentenced a 79-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for abducting and sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl nine years ago.

Special judge of Pocso court V Sofana Devi awarded the minor girl a compensation of Rs 4 lakh.

According to special public prosecutor S Patcheappan, R Thandavarayan from a village near Bahour on the outskirts of the town picked up the girl from an anganwadi. The unsuspicious anganwadi staff sent the girl with him as the man and girl knew each other. The man -- who was a farm worker -- abducted the girl to a nearby plantain grove and sexually assaulted her.

The girl cried for help and passers-by entered the grove and found the man sexually assaulting the girl. They rescued the girl and caught the man. The incident happened on February 4, 2015. The man was 70 years old then. Bahour police booked him under Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of Pocso Act and arrested him.