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A 44-year-old ‘moral science teacher’, has been sentenced 29 years and six months of jail by a Kerala Court for sexually assaulting a Class-1 student during a school picnic. Special POCSO Fast-Track Court Judge M. P. Shibu also slapped a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh to the teacher.

The teacher, Abdul Rafeek, was working at a private school in Puthumanassery in Pavaratty, when during a school excursion in 2012, the heinous incident took place.

Manorama Online reports that after coming back from the picnic, the girl child was found traumatic and physically weak. The mother, who took note of the fact, took her to a hospital.During the medical examination it was found that the girl child was sexually assaulted and her internal organs had been seriously injured.

Thereafter, girl’s relatives took the matter to police which has led to this much needed exemplary sentencing.

In case of failure of payment of the fine, Abdul Rafeek will have to undergo a jail term for an additional period of two years and nine months.

Recently, appalled by the rising instances of minors being subjected to rape in the State, the Kerala High Court remarked, "It is a shame that every other case we consider is sadly a rape of a minor."

Courts are witnessing surge in minor rape cases. Let alone Kerala High Court, has dealt with three pleas in month of September so far, in which minor rape victims sought medical termination of their pregnancies resulting from sexual assault on them.

For the third time in a week, the Kerala High Court on September 22 allowed medical termination of a 16-year-old girl’s 8-week pregnancy.

In July also, such a pregnancy termination was allowed by the High Court where the minor rape victim was also mentally challenged.

Reportedly, between May 2020 and January 2021, Kerala high court alone had granted similar relief to seven minor girls who were sexually assaulted which resulted in their pregnancy.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Madhya Pradesh continued to report most cases of rape of minors with 3,259 incidents followed by 2,785 in Maharashtra and 2,630 in Uttar Pradesh, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2020, released on September 15.

This report states that as per NCRB data, 3,189 minor children were raped by known persons. It adds that according to police, most of the rapes and other crimes against children were committed by relatives and known people.

In its report on the present case, Manorama online adds that while rejecting a man’s plea to quash proceedings against him under the POCSO Act, on the grounds that he had married the minor whom he had violated, Kerala High Court observed,

“Sexual assault is not against an individual but a grave crime against the entire society. For those who are subjected to sexual assault, it is a horrific and humiliating experience. Such crimes even result in wrecking the mental state of minors.”