Four men get 10-year jail terms for rape of minor

CHENNAI: More than six years after a 16-year-old girl was raped by several persons after luring her with the promise of making her a film actor and spiking her drink, a court here has sentenced four persons to 10 years in jail. Three others, including the main accused who first contacted the girl and introduced her to several others, are still at large and the trial against them could not be commenced.
According to police, a man and his niece had approached several film production companies seeking a chance for the girl to act in films. As is the industry practice, they left the girl's photograph and mobile numbers.
In December 2006, the girl received a call from one Saravanan, who claimed to represent a top film director. He asked the girl to come to his office in Kolathur. When she went there, Saravaranan allegedly gave her soft drinks laced with sedatives. She was later raped by him and several others. Saravanan introduced her to several people and continued to sexually exploit her by promising that he would get her opportunity to act in films.
When he came to know about the exploitation, the girl's uncle reported the matter to the city police commissioner on July 20, 2007. An inquiry by police's anti-vice squad revealed that Saravanan was involved in sex trade and that he and his clients Jeevarathinam, Ramu, Palani, Jayakumar, Manibharathi and Gopinath had raped the girl after sedating her.
While Saravanan, Ramu and Jeevarathinam went absconding, the other four were arrested and brought to trial.
Delivering her judgment on Monday, special judge for mahila court Meena Sathish found Palani, Jayakumar, Manibharathi and Gopinath guilty of rape and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for 10 years. They were also directed to pay a fine of 15,000 each. The fine amount will be given to the victim, the judge said.