Erode (TN), Oct 11 (PTI) A man was awarded 20 years rigorous imprisonment by a court here on Tuesday for sexually assaulting a girl.

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The Erode District Mahila Court held him guilty after the prosecution proved its case that the man sexually assaulted the girl.

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Raja, who was 34-year old in 2018 at the time of the crime's occurrence, raped the girl, his relative when she was alone at her house, near here. At that time, she was 17-year old.

The girl, however, did not disclose the incident to her parents. The victim became sick and a doctor who examined her said that she was pregnant.

When enquired by her parents, she said Raja sexually assaulted her. The girl's parents lodged a complaint with the All Women's Police Station in Bhavani town near here, and they arrested him.

Erode District Mahila Court Judge Malathi sentenced Raja to 20 years RI and also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act.

The judge also directed the Tamil Nadu government to grant Rs 2 lakh to the affected girl as compensation.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)