Nirmala Devi sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempted tra cking of college girls
A Fast Track Mahila Court on Tuesday awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment to Nirmala Devi, a suspended Assistant Professor of Devanga Arts College in Aruppukottai, in a case of attempted tracking of college girls.
Judge T. Bagavathiammal had found Devi guilty on ve counts on Monday, and had adjourned the case to Tuesday for pronouncing the sentence.
She awarded 10 years’ imprisonment each on two counts – for attempting to trac more than one person [Section 370 (3) of the Indian Penal Code], and for seduction of girls in custody [Section 9 of The Immoral Trac (Prevention) Act, 1956].
The court also sentenced Devi to seven years in jail for tracking of person [Section 370 (1) of the IPC], and ve years for attempt to procure girls for the purpose of prostitution [Section 5 (1) (a) of The Immoral Trac (Prevention) charges of attempting to lure college girls into doing sexual favours for higher ocials of the Madurai Kamaraj University in return for money and higher marks.
Though the CB-CID had arrested an Assistant Professor of the Madurai Kamaraj University, V. Murugan, thend
Nirmala Devi on her way to and a research Fast Track Mahila Court. scholar, S. Karuppasamy, in connection with the case, the court had acquitted them after the prosecution witnesses turned hostile.
The prosecution would go for an appeal against the acquittal of the two accused, Mr. Chandrasekar said.
Counsel for Devi, K. Suresh Napolean, had urged the court to show leniency towards the accused as she was a mother of two children.
However, the prosecution objected to it, saying no mercy should be shown to the accused in such heinous crimes. Only stringent punishment would serve as a deterrent to such crimes, he said. Act, 1956].
Further, nding her guilty under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, the court sentenced her to three years in jail.
“The court has ordered that all the sentences shall be served concurrently, and hence, she would have to serve a jail term of 10 years,” prosecution counsel Chandrasekar said.
Ms. Bagavathiammal also imposed a ne of ₹2.42 lakh on Devi.
The Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) had probed the case registered by the Aruppukottai Town police against Devi on