Twenty-five years after a sex business involving the rape of a minor shook Kerala, a special court in Kottayam on Friday convicted the main defendant and sent him to jail for 10 years.
The court sentenced Shamsudeen Mohammed Shajahan, 52, to 24 years in prison under various provisions of the IPC. But he would effectively face a 10-year jail term, as the sentences would run at the same time. The court also imposed a fine of 1 lakh rupees, which would go to the victim.
The conviction follows the acquittal of other defendants in 17 cases involving the infamous Vithura sex racket. There are 23 other racket-related cases pending trial.
According to the prosecution, in 1995, a girl, who was then under 16 years old, was lured by her relative into a sexual scam and turned over to Shamsudeen, who was her boss. The girl was in the illegal custody of Shamsudeen for nine months, during which time she was raped by several people. In July 1996, the police broke up the scandal.
Shamsudeen, who went into hiding, surrendered to court after 18 years in 2014. He went into hiding again during the trial, but was arrested by the police.
Special prosecutor Rajagopal Padipurackal said that in the 23 pending cases, Shamsudeen is the main defendant. “The trial in the pending cases would begin one after another. In some cases, the alleged defendants continue to escape ”.
The prosecutor said that in the previous batch of cases, the victim was unable to identify the assailants, leading to acquittal.
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