The Ongole Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court judge on Thursday awarded a life sentence along with a fine of ₹50,000 to a soldier from Akkapalli village of Komarolu mandal in Prakasam district for sodomising and murdering a minor boy in 2022.
The judge also directed District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to provide compensation of ₹10 lakh to the deceased victim’s family members.
On January 25, 2022, the VRO of Edamakallu village informed the police that a dead body was found in a well. After investigation, police found that Donapati Venkata Prasanth, a soldier in the army, who came to the village on holiday, had sexually assaulted the boy and killed him.
The investigation was carried out by the then Markapuram DSP M. Kishore Kumar, and public prosecutor Y. Venkateswarlu presented the case and Additional POCSO Court judge T. Raja Venkatadri presided over the case.
Under the guidance of the SP, a trial was conducted by a special POCSO monitoring team to submit proper witnesses in the court.
