New Delhi: A special court in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur on Tuesday sentenced a PhD scholar to five life terms for sexually assaulting minors and posting videos of the act on the Internet to earn money. All the sentences will run concurrently.

The court imposed a fine

Victor James Raja, a 35-year-old PhD scholar, was convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexually assaulting the minor victims and fined a total of Rs 6.54 lakh for various offenses, officials said. The court also directed him to pay Rs 4 lakh to each victim.

Man arrested for selling pornographic videos on internet

According to officials, the decision comes nearly 14 months after the CBI filed a chargesheet against Raja. In May last year, the CBI arrested Raja for sexually abusing eight children and adolescents aged between five and 18 years and selling pornographic videos of these acts on the Internet.