Chennai man awarded death sentence for raping minor daughter, mother handed life sentence

CHENNAI: A special court for trying cases of sexual offences against children has awarded the death sentence to a 49-year-old man for sexually assaulting his daughter in Chennai while the victim’s mother was handed a life sentence on charges of abetment.

Judge of the Special Court for POCSO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences) Cases, Chennai, M Rajalakshmi pronounced the verdict on Friday.

"A1 (victim’s father) is sentenced to death and that he is hanged by the neck till he is dead," she said in the order, adding that the punishment is subject to confirmation by the High Court of Madras.

Capital punishment is given for the offence of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2019, apart from a prison term of three years under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act. The victim's mother has been punished for abetment with a lifer and a fine of Rs 10000.

The abuse came to light in 2020 when the victim studying Class XI at a school in Chennai revealed it to her friends at school. In turn, they told one of their teachers. Later, the matter was taken up with Childline.

The volunteers of the Childline rushed to the school and rescued the child before lodging a complaint with the All Women Police Station in Guindy. The Police registered a case under various sections of POCSO Act, IPC and the JJ Act before arresting the man.

During the investigation, the girl had revealed that she was subjected to sexual assault by her father since she was seven years old and he had continued it even after she attained puberty.

The man cruelly assaulted her by inserting foreign objects into her genitals and made her lie nude with him at night.

When she became pregnant in 2019, he forced her to undergo an abortion with the help of her mother and threatened her with dire consequences if she dared to disclose the matter to anyone, the investigations revealed.