MANGALURU: The Second Additional District and Session court that doubles as a POCSO special court, on Saturday, convicted a cable operator in the city to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a child of 4.5 years.

He was convicted under section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. A fine of Rs 10,000 was slapped on him, of which Rs 7,500  will be given to the victim as compensation.

The convict was identified as KM Ashraf, 28, from Vorkady in Kasargod working as a cable operator near Mangaluru. Judge BR Pallavi took the evidence of 15 witnesses including the victim and a family friend. Medical reports also proved the crime.

During his visit to the victim's house for cable repair work, Ashraf went to the terrace where he took the girl and after stripping her, had unnatural contact. The girl’s scream alerted the mother who rushed to the terrace. Ashraf ran away. A case was registered at Konaje police station. Sub-inspector Sudhakar filed the charge sheet.

Special Public Prosecutor for POCSO cases Venkataramanaswamy C said that the victim is also entitled to compensation by DLSA.