Thiruvananthapuram | A special Fast Track court in Kerala on Thursday sentenced a clinical psychologist to seven years in prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy who was being treated for psychological issues.

Special Fast Track Court Judge Aaj Sudarsan also imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on the 59-year-old convict, Dr K Gireesh. If the fine is not paid, the convict would have to undergo an additional jail term of four years, the court said, adding that the fine amount should be handed over to the victim, Public Prosecutor R S Vijaya Mohan told reporters.

The doctor was sentenced to seven years for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, namely aggravated sexual assault on a child by a public servant, repeated sexual assaults on a minor, and sexual assault of a child by a repeat offender.

He was also sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the court for the offence of sexual assault of a mental patient, the prosecutor said.The court on Wednesday had found the doctor guilty of sexually abusing the minor boy in a private clinic near his house here during the 2015-17 period, Mohan said.

The same court had sentenced the accused to six years of rigorous imprisonment in a similar case a year ago. He was granted bail by the high court later.The prosecution case was that during the period from December 6, 2015 to February 21, 2017, the child was sexually abused when he was brought to the psychologist for counselling.

After the incident, the minor boy's mental condition became more serious. Then the accused referred the case to other doctors and threatened the minor not to divulge the incident. As a result, the child got scared and did not speak out. The family then consulted many other psychologists.

In 2019, the child was admitted to the psychiatry department of the Medical College Hospital here and when the doctors took the case history, the boy told them about the incident. It was also alleged that the accused used to show the child obscene videos on the phone.