HC
Kochi : The high court has upheld the conviction and sentence imposed on a 61-year-old man for sexually assaulting a septuagenarian woman on the pretext of removing evil spirits from her body. A bench of Justice A Badharudeen dismissed an appeal filed by the convict, a native of Thrissur, challenging his conviction and sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
The court also cancelled its earlier order suspending the conviction and granting bail to the appellant and directed him to surrender before the special court forthwith to undergo the sentence.
The convict approached the HC contending that the victim had initially stated that the incident occurred on Oct 7, 2022, but later changed the date to Oct 8. Because of a property dispute, he also relied on the testimony of the victim’s son to argue that she had falsely implicated him. He further cited the delay in filing the complaint as a ground to challenge the conviction. However, after examining the case records and documents, the bench rejected the appellant’s contentions and dismissed the appeal.
The prosecution case was that the appellant sexually assaulted the 73-year-old woman on Oct 8, 2022, claiming that he would remove evil spirits from her body. He was also sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 for another offence, with the substantive sentences directed to run concurrently. After the trial, the fast-track special court, Thrissur, passed the judgment.