Varappuzha sex scandal: Shobha John, Jayarajan Nair sentenced to 18 and 11 years imprisonment
Kochi/ Kerala, August 22: The six years long sensational 2011 Varappuzha sex scandal case finally got concluded when Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court in Kerala pronounced two people as guilty. Shobha John (43), the prime accused and retired army officer Jayarajan Nair (73) the eighth accused are the two people found guilty in the case in which a 16 year old girl was continuously molested.
After hearing the prosecution and defence, court has sentenced Shobha to 18 years of imprisonment and a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh as fine while Jayarajan is sentenced to jail for 11 years, says media reports. One among the eight accused expired during the trial. However due to lack of evidence, five others including the minor girl’s sister Pushpavathy and brother in law Anil Kumar, were exculpated by the court.
Shobha and Jayarajan are found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), that includes section 376 (rape), section 34(acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), section 366 (a) (procuring of minor girl), section 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and section 506 (2) (punishment for criminal intimidation), says media reports.
The scandal came into limelight in July 2011 after the police officials raided Shobha John’s sex racket and rescued the girl from a brothel run by John in a rented house at Varappuzha town in Kerala. The girl was allegedly sold to John by her parents for Rs 1 lakh in 2010. Police had filed charge sheet in the case in 2012 and it went on trial in October 2016, says media reports.
According to media reports, the sex racket had spanned to various states, taking the girl to many places in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. She was sexually assaulted by more than 200 people. The case was later handed over to Crime Branch; and in 2013 they found that the girl had also been molested by an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) along with four others. Shobha John was accused in almost all the 32 cases registered pertaining to the scandal.
