Mangaluru: The additional district and sessions judge FTSC-II (Pocso), Maanu KS, on Friday sentenced a 20-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl after allegedly gaining her trust by promising to marry her.Nausheeb Khan, alias Nouchi, 20, a resident of Natekal in Ullal taluk, was also directed to pay a fine of Rs 65,000. According to the prosecution, Nausheeb befriended the girl and made her believe that he was in love with her. He allegedly took her on outings and later to a lodge, where he sexually assaulted her.Subsequently, he allegedly threatened to send the photographs he had taken of her in the lodge to her family unless she continued to meet him. Using the photographs as leverage, he allegedly took her to a lodge again and sexually assaulted her. When the girl later stopped communicating with him, he abused her with obscene language and threatened to kill her.Based on the girl’s complaint, Ullal police registered a case last year and took up the investigation. Ullal police inspector Virupaksha Swamy R conducted the investigation and filed a chargesheet before the court.After hearing the case, the court sentenced Nausheeb to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and Sections 137(2), 64(2)(m), 336(3), 351(2) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The court also imposed a fine of Rs 65,000. The court directed that compensation of Rs 3.3 lakh be sanctioned to the victim through the District Legal Services Authority. Including the fine amount, the total compensation ordered for the victim is Rs 4 lakh.
