Five found guilty in Kiliroor sex scandal case

A Special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday found five persons including a woman guilty in the sensational Kiliroor sex scandal case of 2004 in which a minor girl was sexually abused by being offered a role in television serials.

Judge T S P Moosath found the accused guilty under section 376 (2-G) (gang rape) 120-B (conspiracy) and also for charges of abetting the crime.

Delivering the judgment, Judge Moosath observed that four accused Praveen, Manoj, Kochumon and Prasanth were found guilty for rape, which will attract a maximum of ten years rigorous imprisonment. The lone woman accused, Omanakutty, was also found guilty. All the accused are in their early to mid-thirties.

The court reserved the case for pronouncing sentence to February 8. All the accused were present in the court when the verdict was delivered.

The case came to light after the girl gave birth to a child and died at a hospital in Kottayam district in November 13, 2004. The girl had died due to certain health complications which she developed after the delivery, the prosecution said.

The court, however, acquitted the seventh accused in the case. The first accused, also a woman and a relative of the victim, had turned approver in the case.

Referring to the first accused Latha Nair, the judge said she had been found guilty for abetting the crime.    According to the prosecution, the accused persons solicited the minor girl from Kiliroor village in Kottayam district offering her a role in television serials. She was sexually abused by various persons at different places, the prosecution said.