Married man jailed for ‘cheating’ girl; baby gets 1.5 lakh compensation

Mangaluru, Feb 10: A local court has awarded nine months of rigorous imprisonment to a married man for cheating a girl under the pretext of marrying her. The court also levied a fine of Rs 20,000 of which Rs 15,000 will be paid as compensation to the victim who has delivered a baby girl after she had a physical relationship with the accused. Apart from this, the convict will also have to pay Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation to the baby.

The convict is Rajesh Poojary, a resident of Patel Bagh, Mallur in Mangaluru taluk, who had befriended the 25-year-old girl from Boliyar after contacting her through WhatsApp. Though Rajesh was married and had a child, he did not disclose this fact to the girl and made her to fall in love with him.

On August 31, 2015, Poojary invited the girl to meet him at the State Bank bus terminus in Mangaluru. He came in a two-wheeler and took the girl to a lodge, and got into a physical relationship with her. They were in contact after the incident. One day, the victim told Poojary that she was pregnant, and asked him to marry her, but Poojary refused to do so, divulging that he is already married and has a kid. The victim mentioned in her complaint that he also threatened to kill her.

A police complaint was filed after the victim delivered a girl child at the government hospital in the city in May, 2016. Doctors, who learnt that she was single mother, started to enquire about it. She revealed everything to them, and a police complaint was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (punishment for rape), 417 (punishment for cheating) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).

Judith O M Crasta, public prosecutor, said that as many 23 witnesses were examined and 30 documents were produced. One of the evidences included a DNA test, which proved Rajesh as the biological father of the child. The signature at the lodge registry also matched his handwriting. The district court, after hearing the witnesses, ruled out sexual assault, terming it as consensual sex, and a case was filed several months later.

Judge D T Puttaranga Swamy of sixth additional district and sessions court declared Rajesh guilty under IPC sections 417 and 506 and awarded total rigorous imprisonment of 9 months. The court asked the victim to approach before another court to demand maintenance.