Chandigarh, May 26: Close to eight months after two minor girls complained of being raped by their 45-year-old father, a local on Friday awarded him 20 years in prison.
The court of additional district and sessions judge Poonam Joshi also fined the Manimajra resident Rs 2.05 lakh of which Rs 1 lakh each will go to the sisters.
The case dates back to September 2017, when the accused’s elder daughter, aged 16, called up the Child helpline alleging sexual abuse by her father.
Later, police registered a case under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 376 (2)(f) (commits rape on a woman when she is under 12 years of age) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.
The victim told the police that her father had been sexually assaulting her for long, forcing her to live with her uncle on the first floor of the same house. But, her seven-year-old sister and four-year-old brother continued to live with their father on the ground floor. Their mother was no more.
Later, the seven-year-old girl told her elder sister that she was being sexually abused by their father, following which the 16-year-old approached a nearby doctor, who called up the child helpline. The victims then narrated the whole story to the counsellors there. The police were approached who got the victim medically examined that confirmed rape. The father was later arrested.
On Friday, the accused was held guilty under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
