Tamil Nadu, December 28: Former DMK MLA Rajkumar, who represented the Perambalur constituency, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by special court in Chennai in connection with a 2012 case of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl from Kerala. Rajkumar was the MLA from Perambalur from 2006 to 2011. Death Penalty Approved by Cabinet in Cases of Aggravated Sexual Offences Under POCSO Act.

The victim used to work at Rajkumar's house as a domestic help and one day her parents got to know that she died of fever at the MLAs house. However, the girl's father was suspicious and reported the incident at police station. It was then suspected that the girl was raped and murdered by the former MLA and his associate.

Union Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad Friday said that the cabinet has approved death penalty in aggravated sexual offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. In April, the Centre had approved an ordinance to amend the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to award death sentence to the rapists of children below the age of 12.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2018 10:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).