A special POCSO court sentenced a 37-year-old father to 25 years of imprisonment for repeatedly raping his 13-year-old daughter on April 4. The accused, the father of three children, was living with his mother and his brother. The accused used to sexually assault his daughter and had threatened to kill her if she shared the incident with anyone. The entire trial was completed in 9 months and four days.

The incident came to light on May 4, 2021, when the victim, a student of 7th standard, missed her periods, her grandmother also witnessed that she was keeping quiet and not talking much at home. When she (grandmother) inquired about her being quiet, the victim revealed that her father was forcibly committing sexual assault on her for the last year.

The victim also told her grandmother that her father threatened to beat her and kill her if she told anything about it to anyone. The victim`s grandmother then rushed to the Worli police station and registered the FIR resulting in the arrest of the father.

The advocate for the accused submitted that the victim used to wander and that she was stopped by the accused from playing and talking with the boys and as a result of this, there were frequent quarrels between her and the accused. The defence also pointed out that, the accused`s wife left him seven years ago and he didn’t get married again to take care of his children and elderly mother. There was also a monetary dispute between him and his mother which could have led to such a false complaint.

The court observed that the victim kept quiet for a long time and suffered even though she was a school-going child. She had access only to her grandmother. The medical examination confirmed the sexual assault on the victim.

The court also found that the victim was not aware of the need to speak up and also whom to approach when such nature of acts was committed to her. It does not appear that she had knowledge that she could be cared for and protected if she raised her voice.

The Special Judge under POCSO Act, Bharti Kale sentenced the accused to rigorous imprisonment for 25 years and fined him Rs 20,000. In default of payment of the fine, he shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for 6 months. Out of the fine, an amount of Rs 15,000 will be given to the victim, as compensation after the appeal period is over.