PhD Scholar Sentenced to Five Life Imprisonments for Heinous Crimes Against Minors

Victor James Raja, a PhD scholar from Tamil Nadu, has been sentenced to five life imprisonments for sexually assaulting minors and distributing explicit videos online. The conviction under the POCSO Act also includes a hefty fine and compensation to the victims. The case unravelled following a meticulous CBI investigation.

A special court in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur on Tuesday sentenced Victor James Raja, a 35-year-old PhD scholar, to five life imprisonments for sexually assaulting minors and posting videos of the acts on the Internet to make money.

Raja was convicted on five counts of aggregative penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and was slapped with a fine of Rs 6,54,000. He is also required to pay Rs 4 lakh to each of his victims.

The sentencing comes nearly 14 months after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against Raja, who was found to have abused eight children, aged between five and 18 years, over a span of four years. The CBI's investigation unearthed Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from Interpol's database, leading to Raja's arrest and subsequent conviction.

(With inputs from agencies.)