Udupi, Mar 8: More than two years after he was arrested by the Udupi police on charge of sexual assault of 21 schoolboys, part-time journalist Chandra K Hemmady was today sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 in the first of the 21 cases that are filed against him under the POCSO act.
42-year-old Chandra, who used to teach music in schools besides being a part-time reporter, was arrested by the police on November 27, 2018. He was accused of sexually assaulting young boys for over five years in the pretence of teaching them music.
The case had come to light after one of the students from a school in Byndoor opened up about his experience in a meeting with a counsellor in Kasturba Hospital in Manipal. The Udupi police, oblivious to the case till then, was alerted by the parents of the boy.
After the first complaint was made, 20 other students from schools in and around Kundapur and Byndoor came forward to file complaints against Chandra, all alleging sexual assault. 16 complaints have been registered in Byndoor police station, two in Gangolli and one each in Kundapur, Kollur and Kundapur rural stations.
Today’s verdict was delivered by Justice Yadav Vanamala Anandrao, judge of fast-track special court of POCSO of district additional and sessions court here.
In this case, Chandra was convicted of having unnatural sex with an 11-year-old boy of Byndoor rural area after taking him into confidence posing as a reporter of a daily. Hemmady had asked the boy to accompany him and assist him in clicking photographs of animals, birds and school.
Out of the Rs 10,000 fine, the judge has ordered Rs 5,000 to be paid to the victim and the rest to the government.
The then CPI of Byndoor Parameshwar R Gunaga had filed the charge-sheet in this case. Out of the 36 witnesses, 15 had testified in front of the court including the first victim. The special public prosecutor of the special POCSO court of Udupi, Y T Raghavendra had argued for the prosecution.
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