Thiruvananthapuram fast track special court for Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases on Saturday sentenced a man employed as a drawing teacher to 12 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) and slapped a penalty of Rs 20,000 on charges of sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl who was a class 6 student.

Judge R Rekha pronounced the judgement against the accused, a 65-year-old man from Pangappara. The Court ordered that the penalty sum shall be given to the survivor, or else he shall undergo imprisonment for an additional period of four months.

According to the case, the man, who is also a neighbour, came to the survivor's house to teach her drawing from May 2023 to June 25. During this period, he would inappropriately touch the private parts of the girl.

On June 25, 2023, he told the survivor that he would teach her how to draw the human body and touched her private parts. The girl got scared and did not tell anyone about the abuse. Later, she told her mother about the repeated incidents. The parents then informed the Sreekaryam police.

Special Public Prosecutor R S Vijayamohan appeared for the prosecution. As part of the case, 13 witnesses were heard, and 18 documents were presented. Sreekaryam Sub Inspector V K Sasikumar probed the case.