PATHANAMTHITTA: The Adoor fast track court has sentenced a youth accused in a POCSO case to 73 years rigorous imprisonment. The incident related to the case took place at Adoor in Pathanamthitta. The culprit was caught when a 13-year-old opened his mind to an excise officer who had come to the school for an anti-drug awareness class. The boy said that the first time he used drugs was when he was in class four and the person who gave him the drug had sexually assaulted him.

The boy disclosed the matter to Grade Preventive Officer MK Venugopal, who was then working in the Adoor Excise Range Office and is currently working in the Thiruvalla Excise Range Office.

When the said boy was studying in the fourth standard, the convict allegedly took the child to a toilet of an empty house near the playground and abused him. The accused created favourable conditions for sexual assault by giving intoxicating medicine. This continued for three years.

Realizing the seriousness of the incident, Venugopal reported this to the SHO of Kodumon Police Station. After registering the case and starting investigation, it was found that the boy's statement was true.

The convict in the case is Wilson, a resident of Pongaladi's Mattakkat.