A 74-year-old man who raped three minor girls and forced them to watch porn was slapped with ten years RI by the Mahila court here.
The victims had told the investigators that Somasundaram abused them after tying their limbs and covering their mouths with plaster. He showed them porn and demanded that they perform similar acts, they told the police.
They said they suffered in silence for long and did not even discuss it among themselves as he had threatened to send them to jail on fake cases and kill their parents. Unable to bear the trauma, one of the girls broke down before her teacher after sometime. The other two developed fever and revealed their misery when their parents took them to the doctor.
According to prosecution, Somasundaram, lived close to the residents of the victims in Royapuram in 2010 and would ask the children to fetch him tea. Once the child entered his house with tea, he would bind her and indulge in sex.
Following complaints from the shocked parents, police registered a case and took the old man into custody. Medical tests confirmed that the children were sexually abused. The accused came out on bail and dodged the case being heard in the Mahila court. When he continued to skip the hearings despite several adjournments, the court issued an arrest warrant, which finally made him appear before the judge.
Mahila court judge Ms Meena Satish found Somasundaram guilty and sentenced him to ten years RI and imposed a fine of Rs75,000.
Before delivering the verdict last week, the judge asked the old man about the serious charges and he merely mumbled, “I have nothing to say”.