Pocso Act: 21 cases booked against man

The district session and special court on Monday has Chandra K Hemmadi, a journalist, in 14 days of judicial custody in connection with sexual assault of school boys.

The police have registered 21 cases against Hemmadi under the Pocso Act at Byndoor, Gangolli, Kundapur rural and Kollur police stations.

The arrested, aged 40 years, is charged under Sections 4, 6 and 8 of the Pocso Act. Sixteen cases have been registered in the Byndoor police station and one case each in Kollur and Kundapur rural police stations as well as three cases in Gangolli police station.

Hemmadi was arrested on November 29 and remanded in judicial custody. On November 30, he was again produced before the court, wherein he was remanded in three days of police custody.

Police investigation revealed that Hemmadi was a writer and singer. Since 2012, he would visit schools and colleges frequently and convince teachers, students and even parents through his journalistic approach.

He would teach students music and organise programmes in the institutions. He also promised to write about the problems of the institutions and the students. He would visit houses of the students and ask parents to let the children accompany him to click photographs of dilapidated roads and footbridges, saying he was writing articles on them.

In some cases, he would meet children and ask them to guide him to unknown destinations, where he would sexually assault the children and later issue death threats if they revealed the crime to their parents or teachers.