Idukki (Kerala) | A Kerala court on Friday convicted and sentenced a man from Madhya Pradesh to a cumulative 33 years of imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl who hailed from West Bengal, at Poopara in this hilly district of the state.

Devikulam Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) judge Johnson M I sentenced 27-year-old Khemsing Aiyam to varying jail terms for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the IPC for a total of 33 years, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Smiju K Das said

However, the man will serve only 20 years in prison as the sentences have to be served concurrently and 20 years was the highest jail term pronounced by the judge, the SPP said.

Aiyam is the second accused in the case. The first accused, Mahesh Kumar Yadav, is absconding since he was given bail.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on the convict which is to be given to the victim, the prosecutor said.

The court also recommended compensation to be provided to the victim as per the Victim Compensation Scheme and directed the District Legal Services Authority, Idukki-Thodupuzha accordingly, the SPP said.

According to the prosecution, the girl came to Rajakumari, a village in Idukki, along with her parents who had come to the state for work. Yadav, who was friendly with the parents and the girl, took her to the house of Aiyam and raped her there, the SPP said, adding that the crime took place in 2022.

Thereafter, Aiyam threatened the girl and took her to Poopara where he raped her in a plantation there, the prosecutor said.

The girl is a victim in a gangrape case also in which each of the three accused in that crime were convicted and sentenced to a cumulative of 90 years' imprisonment in January this year.

As the sentences given to the three accused have to be served concurrently and the highest of the jail terms is 25 years, they are serving 25 years in prison.