Tailor gets 20-year jail term for sexually assaulting 12-year-old daughter

MUMBAI: A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court on Wednesday sentenced a 38-year-old tailor from Shivaji Nagar to twenty years imprisonment for sexually assaulting his 12-year-old daughter in July 2020

MUMBAI: A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court on Wednesday sentenced a 38-year-old tailor from Shivaji Nagar to twenty years imprisonment for sexually assaulting his 12-year-old daughter in July 2020.

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The man was held guilty of the sexual assault even after the victim girl and her mother, who had lodged a complaint, turned hostile during the trial. The mother-daughter did not support the prosecution case, as the man was the only earning member of the family and was in prison for the past two years and they wanted him to come out of prison to support their family.

The prosecution case was supported by the medical evidence wherein the doctor had deposed affirming sexual assault and the fact that the survivor had stated the history that her father had committed sexual intercourse with her by force one-and-half-months prior to the examination.

The mother lodged a complaint with Shivaji Nagar police station on July 7, 2020, against her husband for sexually assaulting the minor girl on multiple occasions. The family was staying at rented premises in a duplex set up wherein they occupied the upper floor and the family of the landlord stayed on the ground floor.

The incident came to light when the survivor first confided about the exploitation by her father with the daughter of their landlord. The landlord later informed her mother about the revelations made by the girl and when the girl revealed to her mother the sexual assault by her father, the mother lodged a complaint with the police station.

During the trial, public prosecutor Pranjali Joshi examined eight witnesses which included the survivor, her mother, the landlord and the medical officer who examined the girl.

The mother refused to testify against the accused as she wanted him out of the prison to support the family financially, whereas the survivor turned hostile on the instructions of her mother. However, when they were cross-examined by the prosecution, they admitted certain facts to the effect that the girl child was subjected to sexual assault at the hands of the accused.