A BOMBAY COURT CONVICTED A FATHER TO 25 YEARS OF JAIL FOR RAPING HIS DAUGHTER

A special court in Mumbai convicted a 37-year-old man to 25 years of jail for raping his adolescent daughter multiple times. Special Judge Bharti Kale said "A father lays a foundation of security, trust, and love. A father protects his daughter from getting hurt. But in this case, the victim’s father himself has caused pain to her....the father does not deserve much leniency for the heinous crimes committed by him."

FACTS

As per the prosecution, the 13-year-old girl lived with her father, grandparents, uncle, and two younger siblings. In May 2021, the grandmother of the minor questioned her about her missed menstrual cycle. The girl informed that he was subjected to forceful sexual abuse for the past year by her father. She claimed that her father sexually assaulted her at least five times under the influence of liquor.

ARGUMENTS

Counsel for the convict argued that the house was too small for someone to sexually assault someone without being detected by others. The complaint filed was bogus because the father prevented the girl from conversing with her male friends. Moreover, the failure of the girl to raise an alarm suggested that the act did not take place.

HELD

The Court said the survivor's refusal to raise an alarm does not raise any question since she was sexually assaulted by someone in authority. Moreover, silence in most cases is due to fear. "The victim’s failure to raise alarm is mainly the fear in the mind of the child that if a close family commits such acts then what will happen to their life if they oppose as the uncertainty of future looms large in their mind. Such fear is real when the children are not protected in their own house."

Accordingly, the man was sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment.