KOTA: A POCSO court in Jhalawar sentenced a 45-year-old man to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping his 16-year-old daughter, after the teenager, abandoned by her mother and brother, found the courage to speak up through her aunt.The accused, a resident of the Bhalta police station area in Jhalawar, had turned into a predator within his own home after his wife, driven away by years of violence and harassment, walked out roughly four to five years ago.He subsequently remarried. The teenage girl and her elder brother continued to live with him and his new wife, but the brother too eventually fled after repeated thrashings, leaving the girl completely alone and vulnerable.The father first sexually assaulted his daughter, forcibly taking her to his bed and raping her with a stern warning to keep quiet.“The convicted father forcibly took the girl to his bed one day while she was alone and raped her with the warning not to disclose it to anyone,” Public Prosecutor Dipesh Bhargav said.The abuse did not stop there, he continued to exploit her until she finally confided in her aunt (bua), who wasted no time in accompanying her to the Bhalta police station on February 10 last year.A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the POCSO Act. The accused was arrested following investigation and medical examination and has remained behind bars since.During the trial before POCSO Court-2 Judge Sanjay Kumar Bhatnagar, statements of 14 witnesses were recorded and 27 documents exhibited.The court found him guilty on all counts and handed down 20 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 12,000, the public prosecutor said.(With PTI inputs)
