Lucknow: A special Pocso court in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district on Tuesday sentenced a 45-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his minor stepdaughter in 2019. The victim was 14 years old at the time of the incident, said police.
The survivor’s mother, who is the complainant in the case, has two children with her first husband, who died in 2012, officials said.
“On the basis of evidence and witnesses produced, the court held the accused guilty in the case and also imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 on him,” said special public prosecutor Mahesh Singh.
Six prosecution witnesses were examined by the court, which convicted the accused under IPC sections 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and the Prevention of Children Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. During the investigation, the police invoked IPC 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).
Divulging details of the case, Singh said, “When the victim complained of a stomach ache in January 2019, she was taken to hospital where a medical examination confirmed that she was pregnant. On being asked, the girl told her mother that a few months ago when she (mother) and her son (the victim’s brother) had gone to Mathura, the accused raped her. The girl also said that her stepfather sexually assaulted her for six months.”
The girl’s mother then filed a police complaint at Bannadevi police station against her husband, following which an FIR was registered under 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and the Prevention of Children Sexual Offenses (Pocso) Act.
