An additional district and sessions court-cum-fast track court to try POCSO cases in Mangaluru sentenced a 51 year-old man native of Belagavi district to death and life imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping and murdering a 13 year-old girl in Mangaluru.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court II) K.S. Maanu passed the order of conviction and sentence on September 10, 2025 against Fakeerappa Hanumappa Madara, a native of Hanchinal village, Savadatti Taluk. He was charged with rape and murder of the victim who was staying in a rented house with her relatives at Jokatte in Panambur Police limits on August 6, 2024.
Panambur Police had registered cases under Sections 103(1) and 332(a) murder and criminal tresspass under the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita and Section 4(2) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, for the offence of penetrative sexual assault on a child below 16 years against the accused. He was under judicial custody since then.
While Madara was sentenced to death for the offence of murder, life imprisonment was awarded for the offence of penetrative sexual assault. “Both the sentences should run concurrently,” the court said. Besides imposing a fine of ₹1 lakh on the accused to paid to the victim’s parents, the court also directed the district legal services authority to pay ₹4 lakh compensation to the family under Section 135 of BNS read with Karnataka Victim Compensation Scheme 2011 and Rule 7 of the POCSO Rules, 2012.
Convict Madara, who was staying near the house of victim’s relative in Jokatte, had forcefully entered the house on August 6, 2024, when her relatives were away and assaulted her sexually. A native of Belagavi, the girl was studying in Class 7 in a government residential school in Mangaluru. Her mother had taken her home for treating an injury sustained in the school and left her back at her uncle’s residence in Jokatte to join the school after Nagara Panchami holiday.
The prosecution was launched by Panambur Police Inspector Mohammed Saleem Abbas, who filed the charge sheet. Police Sub Inspectors K.T. Shreekala and Jnanashekhar had conducted the probe while public prosecutor Sahanadevi conducted the prosecution.
Published – September 13, 2025 01:12 pm IST
