Nagpur: : A 38-year-old man in Nagpur was awarded double life imprisonment after being found guilty of raping his minor daughters, aged 14 and 13, for one-and-half years.
The Special Judge O P Jaiswal also convicted three of his relatives for their failure to report the matter to the police and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment till the rising of the court with a fine of Rs 5,000 each. If they failed to pay the fine, they would undergo simple imprisonment for three months.
The convict, an auto driver, a resident of Tehsil area, sexually exploited his two daughters between June 2019 and November 2020 after threatening to kill them. The convict and his three relatives were arrested by Tehsil Police on charges under Sections 376(2)(f )(i)(n), 506(b) of the Indian Penal Code, read with Sections 4,6,8,10 and 21 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act following a complaint lodged by the 14-year-old victim. Police investigated the case and filed a chargesheet against them in the court. As the charges were substantiated against the accused, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The elder daughter had complained that the man started raping her a fortnight after her mother’s death during delivery of her youngest sibling. The survivor had three more siblings. The man, despite marrying again, continued raping the two daughters between June 2019 and November 2020, before a case was registered at Tehsil police station.
After raping the elder one for almost one year, the father had started raping the younger sister too, before he was exposed. Additional public prosecutor and special counsel under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 Rashmi Khaparde said 14 witnesses were examined. “The two sisters had strongly deposed before the court along with one of their kin, with whom they had shared their plight,” said the special PP.
The fine amount collected from the convicts would be paid to both the victims equally for the purpose of medical treatment, education and welfare. The court directed the Secretary of Legal Service Authority, Nagpur, to take quick legal and necessary steps for the rehabilitation and education of the two minor victims and ensure that the two sisters were entitled for compensation as per Section 357 (A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
