Man from Kerala sentenced to death for years of abusing his daughter

Thiruvananthapuram, September 4 (IANS): A special court for Pocso cases in Kerala's capital on Wednesday sentenced a 37-year-old man to life imprisonment for the brutal crime of abusing his daughter for several years since she was five years old.

After hearing all sides, Pocso Court Judge MP Shibu sentenced the man to life imprisonment and directed the District Legal Authority to pay the victim an amount of Rs 150,000 out of the fine collected from the accused.

The man, a casual labourer from the suburb of Aruvikara in the state's capital district, had remarried after the death of his first wife and his then one-and-a-half-year-old daughter lived with them.

He was arrested last year after his daughter narrated her ordeal to her teacher when she appeared for her Class 10 public examination conducted by the state education department. Observing that the girl was deeply disturbed, the teacher asked her the reason and the girl burst into tears and said that her father had sexually molested her the day before when she returned home after the examination. The teacher informed Child Line officials and on further questioning, the girl revealed that her father had been sexually molesting her since she was five years old.

Then the police stepped in, arrested the man and charged him under the stringent Pocso Act. During the trial, his second wife did her best to defend him, but the prosecution broke through her defence and it emerged that she was not present when the child was abused after her examination – the incident that led to his arrest.

The government of Kerala has set up 28 special fast track Pocso courts across the state to ensure that cases of sexual offences against children are dealt with quickly. In this case, it took a year from the time the accused was arrested to the time of the verdict.