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Mangaluru courts deliver 20 year sentences in two sexual assault cases
MANGALURU: Two separate courts in Mangaluru have sentenced five men to prison in two unrelated sexual assault cases, with four men receiving 20 years each for a 2018 gang rape and another man receiving 20 years for repeatedly sexually assaulting a minor
MANGALURU: Two separate courts in Mangaluru have sentenced five men to prison in two unrelated sexual assault cases, with four men receiving 20 years each for a 2018 gang rape and another man receiving 20 years for repeatedly sexually assaulting a minor.
In the first case, the second additional district and sessions (Special) Court on Thursday sentenced Prajwal, Arun Amin, Aditya Salian and Abdul Riyaz to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment each for gang raping a woman in November 2018 and committing offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Justice Jagadeesh V N convicted the four men under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST Act. The court also imposed a combined fine of ₹74,000, ordering that ₹60,000 be paid to the survivor as compensation and that her seized mobile phone be returned.
Special Public Prosecutor Jyothi Pramod Nayak said the first incident took place around 12.30 pm on Nov 18, 2018, when the four men, accompanied by three juveniles, stopped the woman and her male friend at a beach near Thota Bengre.
The group assaulted and restrained the man before taking the woman to an isolated area, where the four men raped her in succession, Nayak said. The accused threatened to kill both victims if they approached the police. Before leaving, one of the men forcibly took the woman’s mobile phone and stored his contact details on it.
The Women’s Police Station under the Mangaluru City Police commissionerate registered the case under Sections 341, 323, 354, 376D and 506 of the IPC, besides provisions of the SC/ST Act.
The investigation was led by station police inspector Kalavathi K and ACPs Manjunath Shetty and Srinivas Gowda R. The police subsequently filed a charge sheet. During the trial, which ran from January 2020 to April 2024, Nayak examined 40 of 65 witnesses, according to the prosecution.
The 2018 incident led to protests by student groups and local organisations across Mangaluru. When the four accused were produced before the court in December 2018, no advocates came forward to represent them or seek bail.
The second case is unrelated to the gang rape case and involves a different accused.
In that case, the additional district and sessions court (FTSC-2) in Mangaluru on Friday sentenced 20-year-old Sonu Maclean Noronha, a resident of Kunjathbail, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly sexually assaulting a minor, threatening her and using explicit images to blackmail her.
Judge Manu KS convicted Noronha under Sections 64(2)(m) and 77 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 6 and 15 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Section 66(E) of the Information Technology Act. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000.
Special Public Prosecutor Sahana Devi said Noronha befriended the minor in February 2024 and repeatedly sexually assaulted her between September 2024 and June 2025 at her rented house near Shaktinagar and another residence near Kembaru in Alape village.
Devi said Noronha captured explicit images of the minor by taking screenshots during a video call while she was bathing. He stored the images on his phone and later threatened to release the photographs and kill the girl, her mother and her elder sister if she refused to continue a physical relationship.
The second case was investigated by T.D. Nagaraj, then Police Inspector of Kankanady Town Police Station, where the complaint was registered. After the police filed the charge sheet, the court considered the evidence and prosecution arguments before convicting Noronha and imposing the 20 year sentence.
