Karnataka: POCSO court holds man guilty of sexually assaulting, impregnating teen

UDUPI: The fast track special court – 1 (

POCSO Court

) has held a 33-year-old person guilty of sexually assaulting and impregnating a 15-year-old deaf and dumb girl. The FTSC judge

Yadav Vanamala Anandrao

is expected to announce the quantum of punishment on Monday. The incident was reported in

Karkala rural town police station

limits in December 2018 and a case was registered in this regard on a complaint on behalf of the survivor in 2019.


The accused Harish, then aged 33 had taken the survivor to an under-construction site and assaulted her sexually. The incident did not come to light immediately due to her speech and hearing disability. It was only when the survivor went into labour did her parents realise the tragedy that had befallen their daughter, a seventh standard student. The survivor gave birth to a girl child. Based on her description, the survivor’s mother filed a complaint.

She identified the accused using sign language and accordingly Harish was arrested under the POCSO Act. Then in-charge Karkala Circle Police Inspector Mahesh Prasad had carried out the initial investigation, which CPI Sampath Kumar continued and filed the charge sheet before the court. The judge examined 13 out of 22 listed witnesses, including the survivor’s mother and found the accused guilty of the heinous crime.

Y T Raghavendra

, special public prosecutor said the DNA reports also helped in nailing the accused. Kamala Boyar, then staff of the audiology department at the district hospital helped the court in deciphering the survivor’s ignominy at the hands of her perpetrator. Drs Kishan and Bhargavi P G from the speech and audiology department of KMC Hospital too helped the prosecution’s case against the accused, Raghavendra said.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)