A fast-track court in Kochi on Thursday sentenced two of the eight accused found guilty in the Mattanur sex scandal to 35 and 21 years in jail for pushing a minor into flesh trade after enticing her with film roles.
The third accused got eight years in jail and the others three years each.
The plight of the girl, a resident of Mattanur in north Kerala’s Kannur district, came to light after she was arrested in 2009 from a hotel in Kochi with some men.
Arguing for bail, her advocate claimed that her age was 19 but the police found that she was only 16 years old. During interrogation, she broke down and told the police that she was abused for more than a year and taken to different places on the pretext of film shooting.
The police later filed 11 cases and booked 18 persons under the charges of rape, abetment, kidnap, illegal confinement and crime against minor. Eventually, eight of the 18 accused were found guilty.
Since the cases were causing inordinate delay and embarrassment to the victim, the court had decided to take up all the cases together.
{{/usCountry}}Since the cases were causing inordinate delay and embarrassment to the victim, the court had decided to take up all the cases together.
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