Kerala, 31st January 2023: The Manjeri Fast Track Special Court Judge Rajesh K (Kerala Court) sentenced a father to three life terms for repeatedly raping his minor daughter, resulting in pregnancy.

The court convicted the father for aggravated sexual assault under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act as well as threatening the victim. SPP A Somasundaran said that the accused has been sentenced to three life terms under the POCSO Act.

Giving information about the case, he said that the incident happened for the first time in March 2021. The father raped his 15-year-old minor daughter after finding her alone at home. In this case, the prosecutor said that online classes were going on due to the corona epidemic and the victim was studying at home. Finding the daughter alone, the father took advantage of the opportunity and forcibly dragged her to his bedroom and raped her.

When the victim opposed this, the father threatened to kill her mother. After this, the convict repeatedly raped his daughter from March to October 2021. In November 2021, when the victim started going to school, she began to experience severe pain in her stomach. The victim was taken to the doctor but nothing could be concluded.

When the victim once again complained of abdominal pain in January 2022, she was taken to a government medical college. There it was found that the victim was pregnant. After this, the matter came to light and the police were informed about it. The police arrested the father. The police also collected DNA samples of the foetus, the girl, and her father.

The SPP said the DNA test revealed that the girl’s father had raped her. The father was convicted based on the statement of the victim and her mother as well as DNA evidence, he said. When the case was registered against the father, a senior officer of the Vazhikkadavu police station ensured that the trial was conducted expeditiously so that the accused could not come out in the interim and influence the victim and witnesses.