Mangaluru: Man gets 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping, impregnating minor

Mangaluru: Man gets 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping, impregnating minor

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, January 29, 2025: An Additional District and Sessions-cum-Fast Track Court in Mangaluru on Saturday sentenced a man from Bantwal to 20 years rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping and impregnating a minor girl.

FTC-2 Posco Special Court Judge K.S. Manu also imposed a penalty of ₹50,000 on offender Mohammed Sadique, 24, presently residing in an apartment near Goodinabali in Bantwal. The judge directed the District Legal Services Authority to pay ₹6.5 lakh compensation to the victim under the victim compensation scheme.

Special Public Prosecutor K. Badarinatha Nayari, who led the prosecution initiated by Bantwal Town Police Inspector K.V. Padmanabha, told the court that Sadique befriended the 14 year-old girl after obtaining her mobile phone number. Promising to marry her, the offender raped the victim when her mother was not well in May 2023.  

After noticing physical changes in the victim, her mother got her to undergo a medical examination that found her six months pregnant. The Bantwal Town police registered cases of rape under the IPC, and sexual assault on a minor under the provisions of the POCSO Act. The victim gave birth to a boy in due course.

While the offender denied the prosecution charge, the DNA test proved him to be the biological father of the infant, Mr. Nayari said in a statement here.

As many as 20 witnesses and 30 documents were examined during the trial. Stating that the case was proved beyond doubt, the court convicted Siddique and sentenced him on January 25.