Hyderabad: An autorickshaw driver who sexually assaulted and brutally attacked an 11-year-old boy in 2019 was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on Tuesday, May 19, by a special POCSO court in Hyderabad, a verdict that came nearly seven years after the crime.
On October 29, 2019, the victim boarded an autorickshaw near Jalavihar to go to Ranigunj. The driver, Abdul Rehman, diverted the route, stopped near Bathukamma Kunta and forcibly took the child into bushes near a railway track, where he sexually assaulted him.
When the boy resisted, Rehman smashed his head against a wall, causing a severe bleeding injury. Alert passers-by heard the child’s cries, rushed to the spot, rescued him and handed the accused over to the police on the spot.
A case was registered at Ramgopalpet Police Station under sections 377 (sexual activities “against the order of nature) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 5 read with 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Special Sessions Judge G Uday Bhaskar Rao sentenced Rehman, now 23, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 6,000. The court also ordered Rs 75,000 in compensation to be paid to the victim.
