Life sentence for Monson Mavunkal in POCSO case

Purported antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal was on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment after the Additional District Sessions Court found him guilty in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Purported antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal was on June 17 sentenced to life imprisonment after the Additional District Sessions Court found him guilty in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The case pertains to an incident dating back to 2019, in which Mavunkal has been found to have sexually abused a 17-year-old girl after promising to help her study and train her in cosmetology.

The court found him guilty under various Sections (7,8) of the POCSO Act. He was also found guilty under various Sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 370 (trafficking a minor girl); 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement); 354A (sexual harassment and punishment); 376 (rape); 312 (causing miscarriage without the woman’s consent); and 506 (criminal intimidation). The accused was booked under 13-odd Sections of IPC and the POCSO Act, based on the charge sheet submitted by the Crime Branch team that investigated the case. The Special Court judge P.K. Soman also imposed a fine of ₹5.25 lakh on him

The Ernakulam North police had initially registered a case in October 2021 under the POCSO Act following a complaint lodged by a woman. She alleged that Mavunkal had sexually abused her daughter, who at the time was 17 years old, on several occasions. It was alleged that the mother of the girl was promised support for her daughter’s education, who was seeking to pursue studies after her Plus Two qualification.

She was allegedly abused by the accused in different locations. The complainant said that she had been afraid to make a complaint earlier because of the power Mavunkal appeared to wield with the authorities.

Mavunkal was arrested in September 2021 following a complaint from six persons that he had duped them to the tune of ₹10 crore. The accused produced bogus bank statements to make the complainants believe that he had huge wealth, the returns from the sale of diamonds and antique pieces abroad, stuck in his bank account. The accused collected money from the complainants for releasing the funds which got stuck in his bank due to the Foreign Exchange and Management Act regulations. The accused had offered directorship in some of his companies and interest-free loans to the complainants in lieu of the money collected from them, according to the Police.