Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Feb 17: The sixth additional district and sessions court here has sentenced Praveen (31) from Kerekody in Malavantige village, Beltangady taluk, to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI), after finding him guilty of raping a woman after promising to marry her and fathering a child.
In this cash, Nagesh, an accomplice of Praveen, who helped the accused in his task, is yet to be examined as he is at large.
The aggrieved 31-year-old lady was a classmate of Nagesh. About two years back, Nagesh and the lady had accidentally come face to face in Killur town near Beltangady. Nagesh was then accompanied by Praveen, a lorry cleaner by profession. Praveen had collected the cellphone number of the lady from Nagesh after which he began to call her often on the phone. During one such conversation, he had asked the girl to come to Beltangady for some discussions. From there, he took her to Southadka temple. On February 8, 2015, he invited her to come to Laila on the pretext of discussing marriage arrangements. Once there, he reportedly led her to a lodge and raped her after promising to marry her.
The girl had become pregnant after that. When approached, Praveen refused to marry her and thereafter stopped receiving her calls. When the lady complained to the counselling centre at Beltangady, the centre summoned Praveen, but he remained elusive. The lady also came to know that Praveen was already married with two children. Thereafter, she filed a complaint in Beltangady police station. The police found the accused out and arrested him. Police inspector, Lingappa, filed the charge sheet. The male child that the lady gave birth to was put through DNA test, which proved that Praveen was its biological father.
Judge of the court, D T Puttarangaswamy, in a judgement delivered on Thursday, handed out seven years of rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs 2000 to Praveen. In case of failure to pay fine, he has been ordered to spend one more month inside the jail. The Legal Services Authority has been asked to disburse suitable compensation for which the lady is eligible for, from the government.
In this case, 19 persons including DNA specialists adduced evidence. Even Praveen's wife stated in the court that her husband is of questionable character.