Teacher Sentenced To Life For Sexually Assaulting Woman

The accused, Mohmad Azuruddin of Karatagi, was found guilty by the First Additional District and Sessions Court at Gangavathi on February 27; The court also imposed heavy fines for various offences, including excessive modesty, criminal intimidation and invasion of privacy under the IT Act.

The defendant was working as a teacher at a public higher primary school at the time of the crime. He befriended the victim woman, who had a differently-abled daughter. The defendant gained her trust by promising to arrange home education for her child and help her obtain government assistance.

Using this as an excuse, he sexually assaulted her and secretly recorded this incident on his mobile phone. He then threatened that he would make the video viral if she refused to comply with his sexual demands and continued to rape her several times.

After the woman objected to blackmail, the suspect allegedly attacked her with slippers, abused her with obscene language, pulled her sari and hair and humiliated her on June 30, 2022. She also posted the video clip of the sexual assault on social media.

After hearing the witnesses and examining the evidence, the court found the accused guilty under Sections 376(2)(n), 354, 355, 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC and Section 66(E) of the Information Technology Act.

The case was heard in the First Additional District and Sessions Court at Gangavathi. Judge Sadananda Nagappa Naik, after examining the statements of witnesses and documentary evidence, found the accused guilty and imposed the sentence.

The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment under Section 376(2)(n) of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh. If the fine is not paid within 3 months, he will be sentenced to 2 more years of simple imprisonment.

He was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh for the offense under Section 354 of the IPC. Under Section 355 of the IPC, the court awarded one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000. He was also sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 323 of the IPC.

For the offense under Section 504 of the IPC, the accused was sentenced to one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000. He was given one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 under Section 506 of the IPC. Under Section 66(E) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the court sentenced him to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The court directed the accused to pay a total compensation of Rs 5.50 lakh to the aggrieved woman and Rs 50,000 to the State Government.

Public prosecutor Nagalakshmi S argued the case on behalf of the State. Police personnel attached to Karatagi Police Station assisted in the investigation and facilitated the hearing of witnesses during the hearing.