Man gets 10 yrs jail for raping minor step-daughter

New Delhi, Mar 11: A man has been awarded 10 years imprisonment for raping his 12-year-old step-daughter by a court here.

"In this case, the convict was father of the victim. Instead of extending safe environment to his child, he himself committed sexual assault on the victim who was less than 12 years of age and could not protest herself," Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit said while sentencing the man and also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.

The court also awarded a compensation of Rs two lakh to the victim, noting that she was now 15-year-old and was dependent for her education and living. It asked the Delhi State Legal Services Authority to pay the victim.

According to the prosecution, the accused had in 2010 raped the victim, a class IV student at that time, when her ill mother had gone to a hospital, but the girl did not disclose this fact out of fear.

However, when the accused again tried to rape her after some time, she complained about IT to a woman who took her to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) as the girl's mother had died due to serious illness.

Thereafter, CWC passed an order regarding the girl and her other siblings and all of them were directed to stay in Nirmal Chhaya.

CWC also informed the police which then went to Nirmal Chhaya where statement of the girl was recorded and an FIR was registered and later a charge sheet was filed in this regard.

The accused had denied the allegations levelled against him and claimed that he was falsely implicated.

PTI