Clinical psychologist gets 7-year RI for sexually abusing minor boy

On Thursday, fast track court judge Aaj Sudarsan ordered the 59-year-old clinical psychologist to pay a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh to the victim or undergo another four years of imprisonment in case of default on payment.

The court awarded a total of 26 years of imprisonment to the convict under various sections of POCSO Act, but he would have to undergo imprisonment for seven years, the maximum punishment for a single offence, as the sentences would run concurrently.

As per the prosecution case, the clinical psychologist, who had been in the state government service, had sexually abused the minor boy at his private clinic attached to his home from 2015 to 2017. The boy did not reveal his trauma to his family as the doctor threatened him with dire consequences. When there was no improvement in the mental condition of the boy, his parents took him to another doctor in 2019, where the boy spoke about his abuse at the clinic of Dr Gireesh, leading to the registration of the case.

The first case, in which the doctor was convicted for six years, also took place at his private clinic in 2017. The boy could not concentrate on his studies, which forced his family to seek counselling at Dr Gireesh’s clinic named Thanal. The clinical psychologist took the boy to his consultation room and abused him. The distraught boy disclosed his ordeal to his parents who took up the matter with the police through Childline, a helpline for children.

Advocate R S Vijaya Mohan, who appeared for the prosecution, said it is very rare that a person is convicted in two POCSO cases. In both cases, the accused doctor had shown obscene videos to the victims. The doctor earlier faced a case of sexual harassment filed by a married woman who had approached him for counselling. The case was settled later, the advocate said.