Thane: Man gets life imprisonment for raping minor daughter

A court in Maharashtras Thane district has sentenced a 48yearold man to rigorous life imprisonment for raping his minor daughterThe court said no unnecessary or unwarranted sympathy is required to be shown in the case Such cases are on rise now a days and to tackle the same a deterrent theory of punishment has to be used the court said in its order on April 11 a copy of which was made available on SaturdayThe accused is hereby sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life said District and Additional Sessions Judge at Kalyan PR Ashturkar hearing cases pertaining to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO ActThe judge also imposed a fine of Rs 20000 on the accusedSpecial Public Prosecutor Kadambini Khandagale told the court that the man from Ambivali in Kalyan town of Thane district had lost his wife when the victim was around two years oldHe thereafter shifted to neighbouring Mumbai along with his daughter and sonAlso Read Maha Exemployee booked for cheating automobile dealer of more than Rs 16 lakh in ThaneThe accused repeatedly raped his daughter since around 2011 when she was 4 to 5 years old He also threatened the girl to leave her and her brother if she told about the offence to anyoneThe girl informed police about the offence in November 2016 when she was 10 years old following which a case was registered against the accused and he was arrestedThe prosecutor examined eight witnesses including the victimThe judge in his order said it cannot be kept out of mind that the victim was only five years old since when she was subjected to aggravated penetrative assault and underwent the ordeal for almost five yearsShe was so small and innocent that she might not have even understood what she was subjected to by the accused Her nightmare ended only when the accused after committing the heinous act fled away from the house leaving her behind to starve alone the court notedOne cannot imagine as to what trauma the victim would have to carry throughout her life This incident would give her nightmare whole her life every now and then the judge saidThe accused took advantage of her situation He did not bother about her age and body while satisfying his carnal lust In such a situation the punishment should be striking a balance between the act committed by the accused and status of the victim girl he saidThus no unnecessary or unwarranted sympathy is required to be shown Such cases are on rise now a days and to tackle the same a deterrent theory of punishment has to be used the judge saidConsidering all the facts and circumstances there can be no second thought but to impose extrememaximum sentence prescribed under relevant sections he saidIt is a fit case wherein such punishment shall be awarded which should give a stern lesson to the accused and strong message is sent in the society that such instances are tackled by the court with an iron hand the judge saidThe victim is also entitled for compensation from the accused apart from other government schemes the court saidThe judge also directed that the fine amount if recovered be paid to the victim in addition to the compensation to which she may be entitled to under the Manodhairya Scheme or any other Victim Compensation Scheme of the governmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever