A special Mumbai court has sentenced a 33-year-old man to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for raping the daughter of his friend. The court observed that “sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of girls are heinous crimes and need to be addressed effectively”.
A first information report (FIR) was registered against the man after the 15-year-old survivor told her mother that she had a stomach ache. After they visited the hospital it was found that she was 4.5 months pregnant. The daughter told her mother that in March the man had sexually assaulted her and had threatened to kill her if she disclosed anything. She also told her mother that she was assaulted again the next week. An FIR was registered and the man was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso).
The man argued that the girl had not stated his name before the magistrate and also pointed out that even though she had claimed that the incident took place in March, her family had attended his wedding in May. He also argued that her age was questionable as there was overwriting on the certificate.
The court agreed with the man’s argument and said that the prosecution could not prove that the girl was below 18 years of age and therefore acquitted him under the POCSO Act.
The court, however, rejected the argument of the family attending the wedding, saying: “In my opinion, attending the marriage ceremony of the accused by the victim and her family members is no ground to disbelieve the version of the victim as she consistently deposed that she was threatened by the accused if she disclosed the incident to anyone. The defence of false implication of the accused is thus not proved on record.”
The survivor, in her examination, had stated that she was not in love with the man. The court noted that such offenses are committed in secrecy and the man had threatened to kill her. Therefore, there were no reasons to disbelieve her version.
The court after taking on record the DNA report, which showed that the man was the biological parent of her child, convicted him under IPC.
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