Kerala BJP leader gets life-till-death sentence in Palathayi POCSO case
Kannur: A POCSO Special Court in Thalassery on Friday sentenced BJP leader and schoolteacher K. Padmarajan, also known as Pappan Master, to life imprisonment until his natural death for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Muslim student in 2020.
The verdict came a day after the court convicted Padmarajan in the Palathayi child sexual abuse case. In addition to the life-till-death sentence, the court imposed two separate 20-year rigorous imprisonment terms under aggravated penetrative sexual assault provisions of the POCSO Act. He was fined a total of ₹2 lakh, with an additional year of imprisonment if the amount is not paid.
Padmarajan, a 49-year-old former BJP panchayat president and district leader of a Sangh-affiliated teachers’ organisation, had been working as a teacher at the school where the survivor studied. The investigation revealed that the assault took place multiple times, including inside the school toilet and at a private residence.
The case first surfaced in March 2020 after Childline alerted the Thalassery police. A formal complaint followed on March 18, and Padmarajan was arrested nearly a month later.
The initial probe by Kannur police booked him under IPC Section 376 and POCSO Sections 5 and 6. However, the case later faced major interference, with senior police officers accused of attempting to weaken it by focusing on minor inconsistencies in the child’s statement. At one point, POCSO charges were dropped entirely, and the Crime Branch filed a diluted chargesheet under lesser IPC and Juvenile Justice Act provisions, sparking statewide protests.
Public outrage intensified, and the survivor’s mother approached the Kerala High Court expressing concern about political influence on the investigation. The turning point came when a new investigating officer conducted a detailed scientific inquiry and restored the POCSO charges after evidence, including blood traces from the school restroom, was recovered.
The prosecution argued that the nature of the crime demanded the harshest punishment, stressing the severity of the child’s trauma and the violation of trust by a teacher. The court rejected the defence claim that the case was fabricated and refused leniency, stating that the cruelty inflicted by a person in a guardian-like role warranted exemplary punishment.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
