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Sanal Kumar
Kochi: Ernakulam POCSO court sentenced the ninth accused in the actress attack case with rigorous life imprisonment and fine in another case.
Pathanamthitta native Sanal Kumar (45) was found guilty of kidnap and sexual assault of a minor girl. 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 was awarded for abducting the girl and life imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh for the sexual abuse.
The court noted that the convict deserves no kindness as he had exploited the girl’s trust for commiting the crime. Hence, the punishment for rape will commence only after completing the jail term of 10 years for kidnapping. The court directed to hand over the fine to the survivor.
The incident happened in 2013. Sanal Kumar kidnapped the fourteen-year-old girl and raped her at a lodge in Pazhani. Kalamassery police initiated the investigation based on the complaint lodged by the girl’s father and found Sanal Kumar and the girl after four days. The accused who got bail later went into hiding.
He became acquainted with Pulsar Suni, who is another accused in the actress attack case of 2017, when he was arrested by Marad police in a marriage fraud case. He helped Suni to hide the mobile phone that the latter used to call actor Dileep. Later the police recovered this phone from Sanal’s house and included him as the ninth accused in the actress attack case.
Sanal Kumar was on the run after obtaining a bail in the actress assault case in 2019. But he was found and produced for trial in the POCSO case after the court issued a warrant against him. The procedures of trial were delayed for over seven years as the accused was on the run.
The charge sheet was submitted by MB Latheef who was the sub inspector in Kalamassery. Special public prosecutor PA Bindu and Adv Sarun Mankara appeared for the prosecution in the case.
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