Man gets life term for raping wife’s minor niece

MUMBAI: The sessions court last week sentenced a 50-year-old Sewree resident to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping his wife’s 15-year-old niece over several months in 2020, when her parents were away for work

MUMBAI: The sessions court last week sentenced a 50-year-old Sewree resident to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping his wife’s 15-year-old niece over several months in 2020, when her parents were away for work. The complaint was lodged on January 12, 2021, at the Sewree police station after it was found that the girl was 11 weeks pregnant.

Man gets life term for raping wife’s minor niece

In July 2020, when the parents of the girl had left for work without locking the doors, and she was sleeping, her uncle (husband of her father’s sister) sexually assaulted her and threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone. The alleged sexual exploitation continued till November 2020.

When she began missing her periods, her mother took her to a hospital, where a sonography revealed that she was 11 weeks pregnant. Thereafter, they went to the police station and filed a complaint against the relative.

During the trial, the prosecution relied on 12 witnesses in support of its case against the 50-year-old, with the prime witness being the survivor herself.

The defence, on the other hand, submitted that the accused was falsely implicated in the case due to family dispute. The prosecution disputed the claim, arguing that there was nothing on record to impeach credibility of the survivor, adding that conviction can be based on her sole testimony.

The court accepted the prosecution case and convicted the accused. “The evidence on record proves that prosecution has discharged its primary burden of proof. Prosecution has proved the foundational evidence,” it observed.

Sentencing the man to life imprisonment, special judge JP Darekar said, “It cannot be ignored that accused was of 46 years of age at the time of incident. The offence is serious and committed against a victim girl of tender age.”