Thane court sentences man to 20 years RI for raping 13-year-old daughter

A special court in Maharashtras Thane district on Monday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his 13yearold daughter reported the PTISpecial POCSO judge D S Deshmukh found the 42yearold accused guilty of charges under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO ActThe court imposed a fine of Rs 20000 on the accused and ordered that the amount be given to the victim as compensation and referred the case to the DLSA for payment of additional compensationSpecial public prosecutor Sandhya H Mhatre told the court that the accused lived in Kalwa area of Thane district with his two daughters from his first wife and the second wife and her son according to the PTIOn November 8 2020 the accused raped his daughter and warned her not to disclose anything to anyone The victim narrated her ordeal to her elder sister and her grandmother following which a complaint was lodgedSix prosecution witnesses including the victim were examined during the trial Some family members of the victim stopped her from deposing in court but the girl went ahead and deposed as per the PTIMinor girl raped forced to undergo abortion accused man doctor heldMeanwhile in an another incident the police arrested a man for allegedly raping of a 17yearold girl and forcing her to undergo abortion on the basis of fake documents in Maharashtras Thane district officials said on Sunday as per the PTIThe dead foetus which was buried at a crematorium in Ulhasnagar has been exhumed for further probe into the case they said adding that a doctor who provided medicines for the termination of the minors pregnancy has also been arrestedThe victim and the 29yearold accused man were neighbours at a locality in Ulhasnagar townshipIn July last year the accused lured the victim to his home under the pretext of having dinner while his wife children and parents had gone to their native village Ulhasnagar central police stations senior inspector Shankar Avtade said according to the PTIThe man allegedly raped the minor on multiple occasions and threatened to kill her if she informed about it to anyone the official saidThe victim later found she was pregnant and when she informed the accused about it he provided her with abortion pills given by a private practitioner he saidWhen the attempt failed the accuseds wife mother and motherinlaw allegedly conspired to force the victim who was seven months pregnant for an abortion last month the official saidWhen the the victims parents were away she was taken to a hospital The accused provided false identification and age details of the victim and doctors advised an abortionThe abortion was subsequently conducted at a civic hospital in Kalyan the official saidThe accuseds wife and mother then hastily buried the foetus at a crematorium in Ulhasnagar he saidThe offences came to light on February 23 when the victim informed her mother after the latter returned from her villageFollowing this the victims family lodged a complaint at Ulhasnagar Central Police StationThe police arrested the accused man on February 25 On Saturday night they also arrested the private medical practitioner who allegedly provided the abortion pills initially the official saidThe four other accused all women were yet to be apprehended he saidThe accused have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections on charges of rape forced abortion concealing evidence and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act the official said the news agency reportedwith PTI inputs