Six found guilty in Poovarani sex scandal

KOTTAYAM: A court here on Thursday has found six of the accused in the Poovarani sex scandal case guilty. The additional district and Sessions Court Judge K Babu will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Friday. The court let off five of the accused. One of the accused had committed suicide during the trial of the case. The prime accused in the case is Lissy, who hails from Ayarakunnam.Jomini from Teekkoy, Jyothis from Poonjar, Thanakamany from Poonjar, Sathish Kumar from Kollam and Rakhi from Trissur are the accused persons from 2 to 6.
The court acquitted seventh to eleventh accused identified as Shan K Devassia of Payippad, Joby Joseph of Payippad, Dayanandan of Thiruvananthapuram, Ullas of Neyyattinkara, Joshy of Kottayam.
Eleventh accused Bino Augustine of Illikkal, Kottayam committed suicide during the trial.
The victim, a 13-year-old girl, was lured by her close relative Lissy and presented to many persons to accquire money. The incident occurred between August, 2007 and May 2008. The victim was taken to many places, including Kumarakom, Thiruvananthapuram, Kanyakumari, Thiruvalla, Kollam and Eranakulam, and raped by several persons. The victim died of AIDS and her body was cremated in Tamil Nadu. It was at the Theni Medical College that the presence of AIDS was confirmed. Around 183 witnesses were produced by the prosecution during the trial of the case.