Hyderabad, Nov. 3 -- A man has been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexual assault on a five-year-old girl in 2021 under the Miyapur police station.

The convict, 40-year-old Keela Dharma, who worked as a security guard and lived in Gachibowli but was an Andhra native, was booked under Section 376(AB) (rape of a girl under 12 years of age) of the then IPC, and Section 5 read with Section 6 (aggravated sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.

The incident dates back to July 5, 2021, when the girl returned home crying after visiting a grocery shop. She told her family that an unidentified man had followed her into their apartment building in Marthandanagar, Miyapur, and sexually assaulted her near the lift. Based on her complai...