Bus conductor gets 4-year jail for sexually assaulting girl

Thiruvananthapuram: A fast-track special court has sentenced a private bus conductor to four years of rigorous imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for sexually assaulting a girl student inside a bus.

Pronouncing the sentence, judge R Rekha ordered that the fine amount should be provided to the girl.

In default of the payment, the accused, Santhosh Kumar, 43, must undergo an additional jail term of two months.

The crime took place on Dec 8, 2022, when the girl boarded the bus to go to school in the morning. The accused sexually assaulted the Class XII girl throughout the journey.

Upon reaching the school, the girl disclosed the incident to her friends, and they encouraged her to complain.

The victim informed the class teacher about it, and soon the child line authorities were alerted. The police were called in, and the bus conductor was taken into custody soon.

There were as many as 17 eyewitnesses in the case, including passengers on the bus. A

total of 21 documents and a material object were also presented before the court. The case was investigated by Peroorkada sub-inspector Vinod V K.

On behalf of the prosecution, special public prosecutor R S Vijay Mohan and advocate Athiyannoor R Y Akhilesh appeared before the court.