A sessions court in Dindoshi on Friday sentenced a 27-year-old man to ten-years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 30,000 on him for raping his 11-year-old niece in 2018.
The victim, who was in class 10 by the time she testified in court and her mother, who lodged the police complaint, both broke down during their deposition in court while recounting the incident, prosecutor Geeta Malankar said. The court had offered water to them. The mother’s deposition had to be postponed, with the court noting that she was not in a mental position to continue her testimony.
Of the fine amount, Judge HC Shende directed that Rs. 20,000 be paid to the victim as compensation. In default of paying the fine amount, the court has ordered that the man undergo an additional two years of rigorous imprisonment.
Deposing before the court, the victim had told that her mother had gone to Andheri and she was sleeping, when she felt pain in her private part. She woke up due to the pain and realised that her uncle had sexually assaulted her. She pushed him away and started crying and her uncle fled. The mother had testified that she had gone around 7.30 pm for some work to Andheri asking her cousin brother, the child’s uncle, who used to frequent their home, to take care of her. When she returned with her husband around 11 pm, she found her daughter frightened and crying. She had asked the reason, but the child did not reveal. Three days later, she took her daughter into confidence and learnt about her ordeal. She then got to know that her cousin had left the city the very day of the assault. She approached the police.
