Kerala man gets 3 life terms for raping and impregnating daughter

Malappuram: A Kerala court on Monday sentenced a man to spend remainder of his life in jail for raping and impregnating his minor daughter.

Manjeri Fast Track Special Court judge Rajesh K convicted the man for offences of rape, aggravated sexual assault and penetrative sexual assault as well as intimidation of the victim under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, special public prosecutor (SPP) A Somasundaran said.

The convict was sentenced to the three life terms for the offences under the POCSO Act and the court directed that he shall remain imprisoned for the rest of his natural life, the SPP said.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹ 6.6 lakh on him, he said.

Giving details of the case, the SPP said that the first incident of rape occurred in March 2021 when no one was at home.

The then 15-year old girl had online classes due to COVID-19 pandemic and was studying when her father dragged her into his bedroom and raped her while no one was at home, the prosecutor said.

When the victim objected he threatened to kill her mother, the SPP said.

Subsequently, the convict -- formerly a teacher in a madrasa -- raped his daughter on several occasions, when no one was at home, till October 2021.

When physical classes resumed in November 2021, the victim began going to school and during that time had some abdominal pain for which she was taken to the doctor, but nothing was discovered.

When she again complained of the pain in January 2022, she was taken to a government medical college where it was discovered that she was pregnant and at that time the girl said that her father was the perpetrator, the SPP said.

Thereafter, the police were informed, a case was lodged and the father was arrested.

The pregnancy of the victim was medically terminated and DNA samples of the foetus, the girl and her father were collected.

The DNA analysis proved the girl's father was the offender, the SPP said.

The DNA evidence along with the statements of the victim and her mother were vital in convicting the accused, he said.

"The trial was conducted speedily to ensure that the accused does not come out in the interim and influence the victim or the witnesses," a senior officer of Vazhikkadavu police station, where the crime was registered, said.

PTI with superficial editing