Court sentences father-aggressor for 10 years, says no leniency deserved

New Delhi: A Delhi court sent a man to 10 years in jail for attempting to rape his nine-year-old daughter as it refused to show any leniency saying when the protector tries to ravish his offspring, the suffering shatters her entire persona permanently.

Additional Sessions Judge Seema Maini said the offence committed by the convict was so heinous and grave that he does not deserve any leniency and added that the child suffering is a perpetual one and no medication can heal it. "Fathers were looked upon by daughters as protectors. It is under one's father's protective umbrella that a daughter feels safe and secure, able to withstand any hardship or obstacle coming her way," the court said.

"However, when the protector himself turned an aggressor, making an attempt to ravish his own daughter, the suffering that comes to her way, is not just physical but emotional too, which shattered the entire persona of the daughter permanently. The suffering is a perpetual one and no medication is able to heal the same," it said.

The 38-year-old man was convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However, the offence of rape was not proved. "The offence committed by the convict is so heinous and grave in nature of having made an attempt to rape his own minor daughter, aged about nine years, that he does not deserve any leniency but rather deserved maximum punishment...," the court said. "Keeping in view the circumstances of the convict as well as the victim in mind, the convict is sentenced under rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years," it added.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 60,000 on the man, out of which Rs 5,000 would be given to the survivor's family for her rehabilitation. The court also granted her Rs 50,000 compensation and asked the legal aid authority to disburse the amount. According to a complaint lodged by the girl's mother, the man had raped his daughter for over a period of one and a half years and had threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed it to anyone. In December 2015, a neighbour had caught the man while attempting to rape his daughter, rescued her and got him arrested.

The court said that even though the convict is the sole bread earner of his family, it cannot obliviate the stress and trauma of the survivor and her mother. "The only mitigating factor in favour of the convict are that he is 38 years of age and he is the main bread earner of his family, but the same cannot obliviate the stress, pain and the trauma, which the tender aged victim and her mother would have undergone, and would continue to undergo till the child is able to erase the traumatising memories," it said. "Therefore, the nature of offence, which has been committed by the convict, does not merit any leniency," it added.