Court upholds eight-year jail term on man for sexually abusing six-year-old child

Colombo, July 7 (Daily Mirror) - The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and eight-year rigorous imprisonment imposed on a man who had sexually abused a six-year-old girl in Moneragala in 2010.

A two-judge bench comprising Justices P. Kumaratnam and Pradeep Hettiarachchi dismissed the appeal filed by S.M. Jayantha, affirming the judgment of the Moneragala High Court which had found him guilty of committing grave sexual abuse under Section 365B(2)(b) of the Penal Code.

The Attorney General had indicted the accused for sexually abusing the child, who was his neighbour. Following the trial, the Moneragala High Court convicted the accused and sentenced him to eight years' rigorous imprisonment. The High Court also imposed a fine of Rs. 20,000 and ordered him to pay Rs. 50,000 as compensation to the victim.

Challenging both his conviction and sentence, the accused appealed to the Court of Appeal, contending, among other grounds, that the trial judge had misdirected himself in evaluating the prosecution's evidence and had failed to properly analyse inconsistencies in the prosecution's case.

Rejecting these submissions, the Court of Appeal observed that the testimony of the victim was corroborated by clear and cogent evidence adduced through independent witnesses. The Court held that the trial judge had correctly concluded that the prosecution had proved the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The appellate court further found that there was no basis to interfere with the findings or sentence of the High Court.

Accordingly, the Court of Appeal affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the Moneragala High Court and dismissed the appeal.