Silchar: A man in his 40s was arrested in Assam’s Cachar district for allegedly raping and impregnating his 16-year-old daughter in 2022, police said on Tuesday.
According to police officers, the survivor, who later gave birth to a baby girl in the Udharbond area, lodged a complaint with the help of the Child Helpline on January 18, nearly two years later.
A case under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which deals with aggravated penetrative sexual assault, and Section 376(3) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which prescribes 20 years to life imprisonment for raping a woman below 16 years of age, has been registered.
“After receiving the complaint in January this year, we registered a case and began an investigation. The accused was absconding for the last 11 months. We managed to apprehend him on Monday night,” officer-in-charge of the Udharbond Police Station Siimsing Timung said.
Police said the survivor initially filed the complaint this year at the Rangirkhari Police Outpost in Silchar town, around 18 km from the place of occurrence, alleging her father raped her multiple times at home. She also alleged that he threatened her with dire consequences, including killing her younger brother, if she ever revealed the matter to anyone.
The case was later transferred to the Udharbond Police Station for further investigation.
{{/usCountry}}The case was later transferred to the Udharbond Police Station for further investigation.
{{/usCountry}}“The chargesheet was submitted within the mandatory time frame, and we gathered adequate evidence during the investigation indicating the alleged rape,” an investigating officer said.
The accused was produced before a court on Tuesday and remanded to judicial custody.
According to the complainant, her health deteriorated severely when she was around seven months pregnant. “She confided in a woman relative, her aunt, who then informed her father. The accused allegedly instructed them to take the girl to a doctor and later sent her to a relative’s house in Silchar,” the officer said.
“A few weeks later, the woman gave birth to a baby girl, who was temporarily left in the care of the relatives. During this period, the accused married another woman, and the stepmother reportedly refused to allow the woman back into their home,” the officer added.
The girl told police that she had attempted to end her life but stopped herself thinking of her newborn. “She later boarded a train to Guwahati, where she fell ill and was rescued by the Railway Police. The police subsequently transferred her to a government-recognised shelter home in Silchar.”
Officers said that with the help of the Child Helpline, the survivor received legal assistance and was able to file the formal complaint.