Thiruvananthapuram: The first accused in the infamous case of serial sexual abuse of a minor girl in Kerala, known as the Poovarani sex scandal case, was given a 25-year sentence by the Kottayam Additional District and Sessions Court judge, K. Babu on Friday.
The heart-rending case of the girl, who was abused by a series of persons and finally succumbed to Aids-related complications, had distressed the state and raised calls for better protection for minors.
The first accused, Lizzy Tomy (48), was the victim’s aunt. Tomy facilitated the sexual exploitation of her niece, who was then in grade eight of a school in Pala in Kottayam district.
The little girl had to bear the abuse between August 2007 and May 2008, before she lost her life while under treatment at the Theni Medical College in Tamil Nadu.
During that time, the prosecution argued, the girl had been taken to exploiters in places as far as Kanyakumari, Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kumarakom and Thiruvalla.
Besides Tomy, five others accused in the case who were found guilty were Jominy (33) from Teekoy, Jyothish (36) and Thankamani (42) from Poonjar, Satheesh Kumar (60) from Kollam and Rakhi (33) from Thrissur. Another accused, Ullas from Neyyattinkara, committed suicide during the case trial.
Tomy was also slapped with a fine of Rs400,000 (Dh21,919). Jomini, Jyothish and Satheesh Kumar were handed prison sentences of six years and fines of Rs100,000 each, and Thankamani and Rakhi were sentenced to four years and fines of Rs25,000 each.
Tomy had initially taken the victim home to assist her own daughter who had given birth, but later began exploring ways to sexually exploit the victim for profit. It was while undergoing treatment at the Kottayam Medical College that the victim informed her mother about the abuse. Fearing threats, the parents took her for further treatment at the Theni Medical College, where she passed away.
After her death, the victim’s mother shared the information with a social worker who then prompted the filing of a complaint with the police in May 2008.
