Father gets life imprisonment for raping 10-yr-old daughter

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his 10-year-old daughter by a Delhi court which said his "deplorable and unthinkable acts" do not call for any leniency.

New Delhi: k

"The testimony of the victim clearly brings out her plight and agony. It is noteworthy that due to the acts of the convict, the victim as well as her younger sisters and brother are now living a life of orphans in a children`s home. "The deplorable and unthinkable acts of convict do not call for any leniency and I hereby award life imprisonment to the convict for having committed offences under section 376 (2)(f) (rape of a girl under the age of 12 years) of the IPC," Additional Sessions Judge Illa Rawat said. The court noted that mother of the victim had gone missing in 2011 in suspicious circumstances and the 40-year- old man, father of four kids, was the only parental support for the children. "The convict was only parent available for the victim child and her younger siblings to look upon for their financial needs i.E. Shelter, food, clothing as well as for their moral and psychological support. "Since convict was required to discharge the role of both the parents i.E. Mother and father of the victim, his responsibility was even greater and he ought to have lived upto the faith and trust reposed in him by his children, including the victim," the court said and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the man, a native of Odisha. It directed the Delhi government to pay a compensation of Rs two lakhs to the victim for her welfare and rehabilitation under the `Restorative and Compensatory Justice Scheme`. According to the prosecution, the incident took place early morning in August 2012, when the minor girl was sleeping in her house along with her father and three younger siblings. Her father, who had consumed alcohol before sleeping, raped her and on feeling pain she screamed and raised an alarm after which her siblings also woke up, it said. On hearing the girl`s cries, neighbours gathered there and the man took the child to a doctor as she was bleeding, the prosecution said. Police was called by the child`s relatives who were residing nearby and the man was arrested by the officials of Kanjhawala Police Station. During the trial, the man claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case by his daughter as she was tutored by his brother with whom he was having a dispute over ancestral property and that no such incident had ever taken place. The judge, however, rejected his submission saying, "I find no reason as to why a child of such tender age would implicate her own father for an offence which was indisputably committed with her." The court said that the testimony of the child clearly brought out the "traumatic experience" she suffered at the hands of her father.