60-year-old man sentenced to 20-year rigorous imprisonment for raping 10-year-old girl in Telangana

Hyderabad: A POCSO court in Nalgonda sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 after finding him guilty of raping a minor girl, in a March 2023 case.

The convict was identified as Marri Ushayya, 60, of Annaparthi village. The verdict was pronounced by the ADJ-II-cum-SC/ST and POCSO court.

According to Nalgonda district superintendent of police Sharath Chandra Pawar, the convict, Ushayya, committed the crime on March 29, 2023 when the girl was alone at home. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it. However, the 10-year-old later told her mother, who then approached the Nalgonda rural police station and lodged a complaint. Police registered a case under the POCSO act and arrested Ushayya.

In the sentence delivered on Tuesday, the court sentenced Ushayya to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 under section 376 of the BNS and sections 5(i) and 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012. He was also sentenced to one year in jail and a fine of Rs 5,000 for trespassing under section 448 of the BNS, and was sentenced to one year in jail and fined Rs 5,000 for criminal intimidation under section 506 of the BNS. The court also sentenced him to one year in jail and fined Rs 5,000 for wrongful confinement under section 342 of the BNS.

While the total fine comes up to Rs 40,000, the sentences would run concurrently. The court further ordered that the victim be provided with compensation of Rs 10 lakh through the district legal services authority.