Kerala Court Awards Life Imprisonment Till Death To BJP Leader And Teacher For Raping 10 10-Year-Old Student
The court has also instructed the District Legal Services Authority to come up with an estimate for compensating the survivor: Reports
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Fast Track Special Pocso Court in Thalassery, Kerala, sentenced a BJP leader and teacher in Kannur to life imprisonment until death for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student inside the school.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the convict, Kuniyil Padmarajan, 48, who was formerly president of the BJP’s Trippangottur grama panchayat committee. Judge Jalajarani M. found Padmarajan guilty of four counts of sexual abuse on Friday. Padmarajan was given life imprisonment for raping a girl below 12 years, along with a Rs 1 lakh fine. Additionally, he received 20-year sentences each under the Pocso Act for repeated aggravated penetrative sexual assault by a teacher, with a fine of Rs 50,000 each.
Padmarajan will first serve the 20-year term under the Pocso Act before beginning his life sentence.
The court has also instructed the District Legal Services Authority to come up with an estimate for compensating the survivor.
According to the prosecution, he assaulted the child in the school bathroom three times in mid-January 2020. The complaint was first handed over by the Thalassery DySP to the Panoor police. The initial probe concluded that the complaint was false, sparking public outrage and protests demanding strict action in the case.
Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch. Padmarajan, who was working at a school in Palathyi, was arrested on April 15, 2020, from a relative’s place where he was hiding. The Crime Branch filed the chargesheet just hours before the completion of the 90-day deadline.
While the probe team had excluded the Pocso sections at first, five separate probe teams handled the case afterwards, and the final chargesheet was filed in May 2021 after including Pocso provisions. The trial began in February 2024 and concluded this week with the court finding Padmarajan guilty.
While defence counsel claimed the case was politically motivated, Padmarajan requested a lighter sentence, citing dependents, including his wife, children, and mother. After hearing all arguments and examining the case on its merits, the Thalassery Pocso court imposed the maximum possible punishment.
Padmarajan was sent to Kannur Central Jail after the pronouncement of the sentence.
