Hyderabad: A 19-year-old has been sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs. 7,000 by the Nampally court for the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl in Mangalhat. The court also awarded the victim Rs. 3,00,000 in compensation through the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).
The accused has been identified as Hathgade Sumeeth.
According to reports, the victim, a 9-year-old girl from a daily wage labourer’s family was not attending school and woke up one day to find her parents missing. She set out to find them and met the accused, who promised to help.
Instead, the accused took her to his residence, where he sexually assaulted her. The assault included threats to her life and physical abuse. The victim managed to escape and her mother later discovered the assault when she found the girl in distress.
A case was filed at Mangalhat police station under sections 363, 376(AB) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 read with Section 5(m) of the POCSO Act.
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Further investigation revealed that the victim’s parents struggled with alcoholism. The Bharosa Centre provided critical support, including counselling for the victim and her family, and helped rescue the child with the assistance of Childline.
The victim was placed in a government shelter home for care and rehabilitation. Over time, her parents underwent de-addiction treatment, and the girl was eventually reunited with her family.
