A Kerala court sentenced a 48-year-old man to 14 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault on his 14-year-old daughter.
R Rekha, a Thiruvananthapuram Fast Track Special Court Judge, sentenced the man to seven years each for repeated aggravated sexual assault under section 9(l) and aggravated sexual assault by a blood relative under section 9(n) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, for a total of 14 years.
The order, dated May 31, was confirmed by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) R S Vijay Mohan, who stated that because the sentences must be served concurrently, the man will serve seven years, the maximum penalty imposed.
The court also fined the convict Rs 20,000, according to the SPP.
Furthermore, the court ordered the District Legal Services Authority to provide adequate compensation to the victim.
The victim and her father are Tamil Nadu natives, according to the SPP.
Sexual Assault Since 2020
According to the prosecution, the child claimed that her father had been sexually abusing her since 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The accused then grabbed her private parts while she was sleeping one night in February of last year, according to the prosecution.
Because the victim’s brother and elder sister were in Tamil Nadu, no one was present at the time of the incident.
Suicide
The prosecutor stated that the girl’s mother committed suicide, allegedly as a result of the accused’s harassment.
He added that the family later relocated to Thiruvananthapuram.
In addition to the sexual assault, the child was beaten and had her hand broken.
The child had never spoken up about the assaults because there was no one else to defend her if a complaint was filed.
How the complaint was filed?
According to the SPP, as the sexual abuse became more severe, she informed her schoolmates, who then informed their teachers.
The teachers filed a complaint with police, and the accused was arrested last year.
The prosecutor stated that the court determined that the man who sexually assaulted his own child does not deserve leniency.
The SPP also concluded that the accused took advantage of the child’s helplessness.
