Rajkot: A special Pocso court in Bhuj sentenced a 47-year-old man to life imprisonment for abetting the suicide of his 16-year-old daughter, holding that months of mental torture and obscene harassment by her father drove the girl to take her own life in Mandvi in 2021.Special Pocso Judge J A Thakkar convicted the Mandvi resident under Section 305 of the Indian Penal Code (abetment of suicide of a child) and Sections 11 and 12 (sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012. The court awarded rigorous imprisonment for life and imposed a fine of Rs 1.05 lakh.In Aug 2021, when the victim died by suicide after hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her home with a scarf. Police initially registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC. During the investigation, school records confirmed that the victim was 16 years, 4 months and 14 days old at the time of her death. The charge was subsequently altered to Section 305 of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Pocso Act were added.According to the prosecution, the accused worked in Oman and returned to Mandvi periodically. He was staying at home during the Covid pandemic. The victim’s mother, who filed the complaint, told the court that her daughter repeatedly confided in her about her father’s behaviour. She said he looked at the girl with improper intent, made obscene remarks, subjected her to inappropriate demands during video calls and persistently harassed her.A compact disc with five audio recordings extracted from a mobile phone emerged as crucial evidence during the trial.“The audio files were played in open court. The victim’s mother clearly identified the voices of her deceased daughter and the accused. In one explicit audio recording, the father was heard making crude inquiries regarding his daughter’s inner clothing, to which the distressed minor was heard explicitly warning that she would end her life if he continued to torture her. Forensic reports confirmed that the digital files showed no signs of tampering,” said special public prosecutor H B Jadeja.Rejecting the defence argument that the case was fabricated because of personal disputes, the court found the testimony of the mother to be natural, honest and truthful.In its observations, the court stressed the gravity of the offence and the breach of parental responsibility. “If a father indulges in this kind of act and is allowed to remain in society, all fathers will feel ashamed whenever they see him,” the court observed.The court also noted that the accused showed no remorse during the trial.
