Sexual Abuse on Minor Boys in Byndoor – Accused Journalist sent to Judicial Custody till Dec 17
Udupi: The POCSO case accused Journalist Chandra K Hemmadi, who abused minor boys in Kundpaur taluk has been produced before the court and sent to judicial custody till December 17. Until now, he was in the police custody.
The CPI Byndoor Gunaga produced Chandra K Hemmadi before the District and session judge Udupi on Monday morning.
It is recalled that the accused was sexually abusing minor boys. The accused was making friendship with minor school boys and later taking them to the forest area where he was sexually abusing them.
As per the information until now the accused has abused nearly 21 minor boys from the surrounding area and separate cases have been registered against him in the Byndoor, Gangolli and other police stations.
According to the Assistant public prosecutor Vijay Vasu Poojary, this is the first such case in Karnataka state where highest cases have been registered against a single accused. The Court has taken up the issue seriously and the court sent the accused to 15 days judicial custody
Chandra K Hemmadi has been working as a reporter in a leading state-level newspaper at Hemmadi. He was married two years ago and has a son.
Police said that they would identify the students who were abused sexually by him and make them undergo counselling to get more details about the accused and book more cases against him.
Speaking to media persons Udupi SP Laxman Nimbargi said that journalist Chandra K Hemmadi is associated with a leading newspaper in Karnataka, he has been accused of sexually abusing at least 21 minor boys in Udupi. Accused Chandra K Hemmadi worked as a stringer in Udupi’s Byndoor region, he has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Further SP Nimbarig said, “Hemmadi, who is also a singer was visiting schools in villages since 2012 to write about the issues plaguing them. His modus operandi was to earn the trust of parents and teachers and take down the addresses of the children. Then, on the pretext of seeking help for directions and clicking pictures for stories, Hemmadi would take the children with him and assault them, adding that the stringer had warned them to remain quiet about the harassment”.
“All these cases have been registered within four to five days. He admitted to abusing the 21 boys. We got in touch with many of the boys’ families and registered cases. The boys have been given counselling. There could be more cases which have not come to light fearing shame,” he said.
There are 16 cases against the accused in Byndoor police station, three in Gangolli, one each in Kolluru and Kundapur.
