Gurugram: Man gets 20 years in jail for raping minor daughter

A Faridabad court has sentenced a 48-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping his 13-year-old daughter over a period of two years, police said on Thursday

A Faridabad court has sentenced a 48-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping his 13-year-old daughter over a period of two years, police said on Thursday. The child had initially told her mother and elder brother about the abuse, but neither believed her, prompting her to gather evidence against her father herself.

The girl was also awarded ₹3 lakh in compensation under the Haryana Victim Compensation Scheme. (Representative photo)

According to the prosecution, the girl persuaded her mother to hide a smartphone in her room and leave the house. The phone recorded an incident of sexual assault, and the footage subsequently became a crucial piece of evidence during the trial.

The court of additional sessions judge Abhishek Phutela pronounced the sentence on Wednesday, rejecting the defence’s plea for leniency on the grounds that the convict was the sole earning member of his family and had no one else to support them.

Terming the circumstances of the case peculiar, the court sentenced the man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹50,000 under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, which deals with aggravated penetrative sexual assault. He was also awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 10 of the Act for aggravated sexual assault.

The court further awarded two years of imprisonment and a fine of ₹10,000 under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and one year of imprisonment and a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 25 of the Arms Act.

The girl was also awarded ₹3 lakh in compensation under the Haryana Victim Compensation Scheme.

The case came to light on September 16, 2022, when the girl’s mother informed her brother about the abuse. He subsequently approached the women’s police station in Ballabhgarh and lodged a complaint against the child’s father. Police registered a case and arrested the man from his home the same day.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said the man had threatened his daughter with a kitchen knife to prevent her from telling her mother about the assaults.

Despite the threats, the girl stood by her statement and testified against her father during the trial.

“The prosecution examined 24 witnesses during the course of the trial, whose depositions and the evidence on record helped secure the conviction,” Yadav said.

“Medical examination of the victim and forensic analysis reports had also established that the father had raped her,” he added.