COIMBATORE: A 27-year-old software engineer, who went back on his promise of marrying a girl with whom he had a sexual relationship , was convicted of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment by a court here on Friday.

R Sam of Sri Ram Nagar near Podanur, and the girl were in love and he had promised to marry her. According to the prosecution, he took the girl to Kodaikanal in 2007 and raped her several times after giving her soft drinks laced with sedatives.

After returning from Kodaikanal, Sam started avoiding the girl and she filed a complaint with police. Police called Sam for an inquiry, following which both the families agreed for marriage, but it did not materialise as the youth had not completed 21 years of age at that time. Stopping short of a formal wedding, they exchanged rings and took photographs.

Later, Sam and his family members started avoiding her. The girl said she was even asked to bring Rs 6 lakh from her house. She then lodged a fresh complaint with an all-women police station and a case of rape was registered against Sam.

Special judge for Mahila court M P Subramanian found Sam guilty on three counts – rape, kidnapping and giving false promise. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh, to be paid to the girl as a compensation, for rape. On kidnap charge, the judge sentenced Sam to seven years of rigorous imprisonment besides slapping a fine of Rs 10,000. He was handed down another one-year imprisonment and asked to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 for giving false promise to the girl.

Sam's parents – R Raghunathan (57) and R Salomi (55) – and two friends – M Sivaram (27) and S Kiruba Shankar (26) – were, however, acquitted of all charges. The court also stipulated that if Sam failed to pay Rs 1 lakh to the girl, his family property could be attached.

Sam and the girl were studying at a private matriculation school in Peelamedu when they got to know each other. Later, while she moved to another school for Plus Two, he joined an engineering college on the outskirts of the city. They later fell in love and used to meet often, but their families were against the relationship. When they went to Kodaikanal in 2007, the girl was a first year BA (English literature) student of a private college in Peelamedu.

Public prosecutor R Sarojini demanded severe punishment for Sam given the "grave nature" of the crime. After the verdict was pronounced, Sam was taken to Coimbatore central prison.