Vijayawada: 70-yr-old man gets 20 years jail for raping minor

Vijayawada: A 70-year-old person, accused of raping a minor, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by POCSO Court special judge in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

According to information, the accused Pagadala Venkateswara Rao, a resident of Punnami Thota area under the Suryarao Pet police station committed a heinous crime of sexual assault on a three years old girl. The then inspector of police of Suryarao Pet police station M Satyanarayana registered a case with Crime No 364/2018 under Section 376 (1) (1) of IPC, Section 04 of POCSO and arrested the accused.

Later, a charge sheet was filed on the accused. The POCSO court special judge on Tuesday delivered a judgment awarding imprisonment of 20 years and penalty of Rs 10,000. The convict committed the heinous offence on the child studying LKG at his residence.

The state DGP K Rajendranath Reddy has issued orders to the police to implement the conviction-based trial monitoring system and ensure the inquiry to be completed as early as possible in serious offences and crimes against the woman. Special public prosecutor G Nagireddy argued in the case. The court inquired nine witnesses in the case and delivered the judgment.