In A First, Transgender Convicted In Kerala For Assaulting Minor; Gets 7-year Jail Term

Thiruvananthapuram Fast Track Special Court on Monday convicted a transgender person, for the first time in the state, for sexually abusing a boy

Written By Abheet Sajwan

Thiruvananthapuram fast-track special court has sentenced Sachu Samson, a 34-year-old transgender, to seven years of prison for molesting a 16-year-old minor boy, making it the first such conviction in Kerala.

For the very first time, a transgender has been convicted of a sexual crime in the state by the Thiruvananthapuram special fast-track court. While giving the verdict, Justice Sudarshan said that if the person will not pay the fine, then there will be an extension of the jail term by one year.

The incident took place on February 23, 2016, at 2.30 pm when the accused met the victim who was coming to Thiruvananthapuram by train from Chirayinkeez. As per the prosecution in the case, the transgender took the child to Thambanoor Public Comfort Station and subjected him to unnatural sexual harassment.

The child initially declined to go with the transgender but the minor was threatened and was forcefully taken. However, the child, who was afraid of torture did not say anything to his family after that incident took place. The transgender kept on calling that boy even after that day and asked him to meet, but the minor declined to come.

Minor stopped picking up his calls

This act of minor where he was reluctant to pick up the calls and speak on the phone, took the attention of his mother. She also noticed that the accused was constantly sending messages. After the child blocked his phone number, he started trying to reach out to him through Facebook Messenger.

The child’s Facebook account was opened on his mother’s phone because of which she understood the whole scenario and started replying to the transgender’s messages.

As per the instructions of the police, the mother sent messages to the accused and called him to Thambanoor where the accused was held.

The prosecution examined seven witnesses while 12 documents were produced before the court. The case was investigated by S P Prakash who was Sub Inspector at Thambanur police station. The accused was was found guilty of the offences punishable under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(d) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Courtesy : Republic World

Note: This news piece was originally published in republicworld.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights