Man gets 10-year jail for sexually assaulting minor daughter of live-in partner
In March 2017, a case against the man was registered based on a complaint by the elder sister of the girl’s mother at Shivaji Nagar police station.
Mumbai: A man was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for sexually assaulting the 15-year-old minor daughter of his live-in partner. The accused claimed he was implicated by his partner’s family which opposed their relationship.
In March 2017, a case against the man was registered based on a complaint by the elder sister of the girl’s mother at Shivaji Nagar police station.
“The victim’s mother and her biological father got married in 1998. However, after 12 years of their marriage, her father left them. Her mother began working as a beautician and came in touch with the accused and fell in love. They started residing together,” states the complaint.
It adds that on March 12, 2017, the victim went to her maternal grandmother’s house. There she met the complainant’s daughter and revealed to her that the accused – her stepfather – sexually assaulted her on January 7, 2017, when her mother had gone to work.
The accused threatened her to not reveal anything and went to Uttar Pradesh two days later. However, after much courage, she narrated the incident to her sister. Later, the two approached her aunt, a social worker, and through her approached the police.
The accused was arrested two months later, on May 12, 2017.
The defence claimed that the parents of the mother of the girl as well as the informant were against the relationship of the girl’s mother with the accused. Only at the instance of grandparents and the informant, who is her maternal aunt, did the victim file a false case against the accused, when he went to his native.
Public prosecutor Veena Shelar examined ten witnesses which included, medical officers, the victim, the complainant (the victim’s maternal aunt) and investigating officers. The prosecution primarily relied on the evidence of a medical expert who opined that there were old injuries from penetration and that there was no hymen.
The court accepted the prosecution case and observed that There was no reason to disbelieve the testimony of the victim which the court found to be trustworthy and inspiring confidence. Also, the court said, her testimony was supported by medical evidence.