Malappuram: A Kerala court has awarded 141-year rigorous incarceration and a fine of Rs 7.85 lakh to a man for serially raping his twelve-year-old stepdaughter for three years. Both the convict and the victim are natives of Tamil Nadu.
The Manjeri Special POCSO Court Judge A M Ashraf pronounced the verdict. The fine imposed on the accused will be handed over to the minor victim, the judge said.
The family of the minor girl, episodically raped from 2017 to 2020, came to Malapurram in search of work and was living in rented quarters in various parts of the district as their work was not fixed to a particular location. Taking advantage of her mother's absence, the minor was repeatedly raped in various rented accommodations.
On February 5, 2021, the child was playing with her friend in the yard of her rented quarters in Munduparamba, Malappuram when the stepfather returned, took her to the bedroom and raped her. The abhorring incident came to light when the minor narrated the ordeal to her mother and a friend.
The accused was arrested based on a complaint filed by the mother and the girl's statement. However, when the case reached the court, the mother changed her mind. Later, the accused was found guilty based on the statements of the survivor and her friend.
After recording the statement, the police sent the child to the Nirbhaya Home in Thrissur. During the December vacation, the child came to live with her mother with the permission of the Child Welfare Committee. At that time, the accused, who was out on bail, turned up in their house and raped the minor girl when the mother was at work.
When she returned, the child complained about the recurrence of the incident, but she did not take the matter seriously. However, the police, who eventually came to know about the incident, registered another case in this regard and made the mother, disinclined to disclose the information, a co-accused. The unwillingness to divulge the matter is the reason why she changed her allegiance in the first case.
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