A special court for exclusive trial of cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act convicted and sentenced a 43-year-old man for repeatedly raping a minor girl, who was his relative and had lost her parents. His wife was also given a punishment of 10-year rigorous imprisonment for abetting the crime.
According to the prosecution, the mother of the victim girl left her and her father when she was six years old. Thereafter, the child had been living with her father and grandmother. Her grandmother also died in 2013, and her father died the next year.
Following this, her paternal aunt took her in. Later, her paternal uncle and his wife, who lived nearby, took the child to their house, and she eventually began living with them. The accused then raped her repeatedly.
Unable to bear the trauma and mental agony, the girl went to the Kodambakkam railway station to end her life. One of her other relatives rescued her and took her to his house. Despite this, the accused tried to take her back to his house forcibly.
Subsequently, the victim, who was 17-years-old at the time, lodged a complaint with the police. The all-women police, Teynampet, arrested the then 38-year-old accused on September 9, 2017 for offences under Sections 5 (Aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (Punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
During the course of the trial, when the victim was questioned by the special court, she deposed that her aunt, the wife of the accused, had enabled the aggravated penetrative sexual assault by locking her in a room with the accused. The accused repeatedly indulged in the offence for three years between 2014 and 2017, the prosecution said.
At the conclusion of trial, Special Judge M. Rajalakshmi held both the husband and wife guilty for offences that they were charged with. Convicting them, the judge sentenced him to life imprisonment and also imposed a fine of ₹25,000. If he defaulted in paying the fine, he will also have to undergo another six months of simple imprisonment. His wife was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
In addition to the punishment, the court also directed a payment of ₹7 lakh as compensation to the victim.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)
