15 men sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping minors in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu

VILLUPURAM: A special Pocso court in Villupuram on Tuesday convicted 15 men for sexually abusing two minor girls in Tindivanam. Justice M Vinodha sentenced the convicts to 20 years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 32,000 each.

According to sources, the girls, aged nine and seven, were left with their maternal grandparents in Tindivanam in 2019 after their mother remarried and moved to Puducherry to be with her second husband and baby. During one of her usual visits to the girls, she came to know that the eldest daughter had been given chocolates and was being sexually abused by around 10 men from the village, most of them relatives, for over two years, police said. The mother was alerted to the matter by the girl’s teacher, who took her to the hospital after she fell ill during class.

Doctors at a hospital in Tindivanam found bite marks, scars and signs of rape on the nine-year-old’s body. The mother then took the girls to Puducherry, where the little girl also fell ill. After diagnosis at JIPMER, both girls were found to have signs of sexual assault, after which the Puducherry Child Welfare Department (CWD) sent a report to the Villupuram CWD.

Following investigation by the Director of Villupuram CWD, a case was filed with the then Superintendent S. Jeyakumar on July 19, 2019. It was later found that five more persons had sexually abused the children, taking the total number of convicts to 15.

Victims are sisters

The sisters, both minors, were sexually abused by 15 men, including relatives, while staying with their maternal grandparents in a village in Tindivanam.