Kerala Court Sentences Man To 14 Yrs Imprisonment For Sexual Assault Of Minor Daughter

A 48-year-old man was sentenced by a Kerala court to a cumulative 14 years imprisonment for aggravated sexual assault of his 14-year-old daughter at their home near Peroorkada here.

Thiruvananthapuram Fast Track Special Court Judge R Rekha sentenced the man to seven years each for the offences of repeated aggravated sexual assault under section 9(l) and aggravated sexual assault by a blood relative under section 9(n) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for a total of 14 years.

The order, of May 31, was confirmed by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) R S Vijay Mohan who said that as the sentences have to be served concurrently, the man will serve seven years — the highest of the punishments given to him.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict, the SPP said.

Besides that, the court also directed the District Legal Services Authority to provide adequate compensation to the victim.

The victim and her father are Tamil Nadu natives, the SPP said.

According to the prosecution, the child had said that her father constantly sexually abused her since 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thereafter, one night in February last year, the accused had grabbed her private parts when she was sleeping, the prosecutor said.

As the victim’s brother and elder sister were in Tamil Nadu, no one was home at the time of the incident.

The girl’s mother had died by suicide allegedly due to the harassment of the accused, the prosecutor said.

Subsequently, the family had moved to Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

In addition to the sexual assault, the child was also beaten and once her hand was also broken.

The child had never spoken out about the assaults as there was no one else to protect her if a complaint was filed.

As the sexual abuse increased, she told her friends in school who in turn told their teachers, the SPP said.

The teachers lodged a complaint with the police and the accused was arrested last year.

The prosecutor said that the court observed that the man who sexually assaulted his own child does not deserve any leniency.

It also observed that the accused exploited the helplessness of the child, the SPP said.

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