Mumbai: A special court has sentenced a man to ten years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting the 15-year-old step daughter of his live-in partner for over four years. It observed that the incident had caused an adverse impact on the mind of the victim.
The complaint was lodged in 2017 by the younger sister of his live-in partner. The teen had confided in her cousin sister - the informant’s daughter, during a visit to her grandmother’s house where they had met. She said the man had been sexually assaulting her for four years then. The victim had not confided in her aunt later who tried to take her in confidence. Members of the Childline and an NGO had got involved, after which she had disclosed details. Prosecutor Veena Shelar said the man had threatened to kill the child’s mother and brother and out of fear she had not disclosed anything earlier.
The man had taken the defence that he had been falsely implicated as his partner’s family was against their relationship. He had also raised the aspect of late lodging of the complaint. The court noted that as the man was a tailor, worked from home while the teen’s mother was out for work most of the time and she was in the company of the accused at the time and that the delay has to be considered in this background. “Just because she did not disclose the incidents immediately, does not mean she was not being sexually assaulted at the hands of the accused,” special judge SC. Jadhav stated in the judgment.
