Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Apr 30: The Bombay High Court recently enhanced the punishment of a 40-year-old man from Haryana for raping his friend’s minor daughter for a prolonged period as it refused to show any leniency towards the man who ravished a minor girl’s entire persona permanently.

Though the trial court had sentenced the man to seven years in jail, the High Court found it a fit case for enhancement of punishment as the accused had sexually assaulted a minor girl for more than two years.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav said, “The learned special judge awarded a sentence of seven years for the offence punishable under section 376 of the IPC (to the accused). In fact, this was a fit case for enhancing the sentence upto 10 years, since the victim was sexually assaulted for more than two years at the hands of the appellant (accused).”

The court also noticed that the girl was sexually assaulted for two years or more from the age of 11 to 13 years. As per the prosecution, the girl was entrusted to the custody of her father’s friend, the accused, at the age of 10. She was asked to stay with the accused, as her parents were separated and her mother was not willing to take custody of her and her brother. She was repeatedly raped when she stayed with the accused, his wife and two children in Delhi. When she complained to the wife of the accused, the woman dismissed the allegations as 'some kind of hallucination'.

It was informed that the accused had a second wife and children living in Mumbai. In 2010, the girl was brought to Mumbai and made to stay with the second wife. The accused used to visit Mumbai and repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl. The prosecution also added that a few days later, the second wife came to know about the accused and the girl. Following this, she took the girl to the National Health Organisation office. Later, a complaint of rape was filed with the Samata Nagar police station.

During the hearing, the girl shuddered and said that the accused would send his second wife to the gym and the children to play outside on every occasion he raped her.