POCSO Court Hands 4 Death Sentences To Tirunelveli Church Preacher S. Abraham For The Sexual Assault Of Four Minor Girls

Home / News updates POCSO Court Hands 4 Death Sentences To Tirunelveli Church Preacher S. Abraham For The Sexual Assault Of Four Minor Girls X Preacher Sentenced to Death Four Times Over Abusing Minors at His Church, Tamil Nadu Court Orders Rs 10 Lakh Compensation Each A Tirunelveli POCSO court has awarded four death sentences to a preacher for sexually assaulting four minor girls aged between 8 and 13 at his church, directing Rs 10 lakh compensation for each survivor. A special POCSO court in Tirunelveli has sentenced a 47-year-old preacher to death on four counts for sexually assaulting four minor girls over nearly two years, holding that the crime fell within the "rarest of rare" category. The court also directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to each of the four survivors. Special Court Judge K Suresh Kumar convicted S Abraham, who ran a Christian prayer church at Mela Ilanthaikulam near Gangaikondan Thevarkulam, after finding him "guilty beyond reasonable doubt." Along with the death sentences, the court imposed a cumulative fine of Rs 52,000. The judge observed that Abraham preyed on the very children he was expected to guide and showed no genuine remorse. According to the prosecution, Abraham sexually assaulted the girls at his church during Bible and music classes, and at deserted places nearby, on the pretext of imparting moral education. The four victims were relatives from the same extended family, the youngest being eight years old and the rest aged between 11 and 13. The assaults allegedly began during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 and continued until 2022, when the abuse came to light. The case broke open after the eight-year-old girl from Thevarkulam complained of pain in her private parts. Her mother took her to a hospital, where doctors confirmed she had been sexually assaulted. Following this disclosure, three other girls from the same family told their mothers that Abraham had assaulted them too. Police said the accused had taken the children to isolated locations under the guise of teaching them Bible lessons and music, and had threatened them with dire consequences if they revealed the abuse to anyone. Abraham was arrested on July 5, 2022, after complaints by the victims' parents with the Tirunelveli Rural All Women Police. Tirunelveli Superintendent of Police Vishwesh Balasubramaniam Shastri confirmed the timeline of the abuse and said threats of harm had allowed it to continue undetected for close to two years. The trial gained momentum after Tirunelveli police introduced a "case officer" scheme in 2026 to expedite pending POCSO cases by assigning each matter to a dedicated team. Abraham's case was handled by a team headed by Additional Superintendent of Police K Shanmugham, with progress reviewed weekly. Police said the case was brought to conviction within six months of the scheme's launch. The investigating team, along with Special Public Prosecutor P Usha, also assisted the child witnesses ahead of their testimony and cross-examination. "Medical evidence collected during the investigation by officer Radha was among the evidence relied upon by the prosecution to establish penetrative sexual assault," Usha said, adding that all four girls, their parents, and other witnesses testified during the trial. The judgment marks one of the most severe outcomes secured under the case officer scheme so far, with the special court invoking the "rarest of rare" doctrine to award the maximum punishment on all four counts.