Kollam (Kerala) | A Kerala court on Thursday sentenced a 39-year-old man to three life imprisonments for the repeated penetrative sexual assault of a minor girl during 2023-24.

Karunagappally Fast Track Special Court judge Rajeevan Vachal sentenced the convict to three life terms for various offences under the IPC, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act, special public prosecutor (SPP) N C Premchandran said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs three lakh on the convict, the SPP said.

The incident first occurred in 2023, when the girl was in class 5, and continued for almost a year and stopped after she reached class 6, the prosecutor said.

As the child stopped showing interests in studies or other matters, it came to her mother's attention, who took her to the school counsellor.

Through the school counsellor, the sexual assault suffered by the child came to light and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) was informed, the prosecutor said.

Thereafter, police recorded the victim's statement on the CWC's direction, registered a case and launched an investigation, the SPP said.

The prosecution examined 11 witnesses and 18 documents in support of its case, he said.