HC upholds life sentence of man for sexual assault of 2-yr-old daughter

The Bombay high court recently upheld the life sentence of a man for sexually assaulting his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. The court emphasised the need to address the concern of increasing incidents of child abuse, resulting in betrayal of trust amongst vulnerable children

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court recently upheld the life sentence of a man for sexually assaulting his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. The court emphasised the need to address the concern of increasing incidents of child abuse, resulting in betrayal of trust amongst vulnerable children.

Mumbai, India - September 03, 2021: Bombay High Court at Fort, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, September 03, 2021. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The case dates to November 30, 2017, when the mother of the survivor caught her husband assaulting their daughter, after she returned from the washroom. The daughter was crying, while the father - undressed - was lying on top of the child. The mother examined the child and found physical signs of sexual abuse. After one more similar incident of sexual abuse, a few days later, the mother lodged a police complaint against the child’s father.

The minor’s medical examination corroborated the allegations - petechial hemorrhages were noticed in the child’s genital area. Resultantly, he was taken into custody on December 6, 2017.

The trial court had convicted the father for repeatedly committing rape on his own daughter and had imposed life sentence on him. “It is not proper to show any leniency, as such type of offences are increasing day by day and children of tender age are not safe even in their homes, expected to be the safest place on the earth,” the court had said.

In the high court, additional public prosecutor Dr. Ashvini Takalkar inferred the guilt of the father by presenting medical evidence and the mother’s testimony. She submitted that her husband sexually exploited their minor daughter, leaving her in a state of life-long trauma.

Advocate Anjali Patil, representing the father, raised doubts about the medical examination and credibility of the mother’s testimony. She pointed towards serious lapses in the prosecution’s case, such as the child being examined by a male doctor. She pleaded for the reversal of the sentence imposed, stating that the sessions judge failed to take note of the lacuna in the case.

A division bench, led by justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, noted the evidence presented that highlighted the father’s guilty intentions and culpable state of mind. The court stated that the prosecution’s case had left no scope for any doubt, and inferred the case of repeated, forcible sexual assault on a two-year-old, by her own father.

Deeming it appropriate to impose the maximum punishment due to the gravity of the offence and its impact, not only upon the victim and her family members, but society at large, the court upheld the life sentence imposed by the sessions judge.