Tuition teacher gets 20-year RI for raping minor student in Vizianagaram

VIZIANAGARAM: A special court in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram has awarded 20-year rigorous imprisonment to a 35-year-old mam for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old Class-X student who used to take tuition from him.
In 2020 and 2021, when she had gone for class in the tuition centre in a village under Gantyada police station limits in Vizianagaram district, Karu Chinna Rao allegedly touched her inappropriately.
He sexually harassed her on the pretext of special classes and later he repeatedly raped her.
He also threatened to beat her up if she told anyone about the rape.
Scared, the girl stayed mum.
But in September 2021, her parents and family members took her to a hospital as she was not feeling well.
It was then that her pregnancy had come to the fore, following which the she revealed to her family that the tuition teacher had raped her.
A case against the tuition teacher was registered at Gantyada police station in Vizianagaram district in September 2021 and he was arrested on September 23, 2021.
The then deputy superintendent of police, Disha, T Trinadh investigated the case and filed a charge-sheet.
After regular hearings, the special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court judge found the accused guilty and awarded 20-year rigorous imprisonment to the accused.
He also slapped a fine of Rs 18,000, said special public prosecutor M Sankara Rao.
The court also recommended that in accordance with provisions of Section 33 (8) of the POCSO Act read with Rule 7, the case is recommended for award of compensation to the tune of Rs five lakh by district legal services authority, under the victim compensation scheme.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault.)