Crime news: A 54-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment by a Thane court for raping a minor girl, who considered him her ‘mama’ (maternal uncle). The court observed that the crime was "heinous and disgusting" and needed to be dealt with a heavy hand. The accused does not appear to have honoured the relationship of a foster maternal uncle with the girl, special POCSO court judge Ruby U Malvankar said in an order on July 5. A copy of the order was made available on Monday.
The court’s remarks came after the man, a cook by profession and hailing from Ahmednagar, was convicted on charges of rape, criminal intimidation and under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.
What were the allegations against the man?
Special Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale told the court that the victim, then aged 16, approached the police in 2018 with a complaint, saying she lived with her father and two brothers in Manpada area of Maharashtra's Thane district.
In August 2017, the maternal uncle came to stay with their place. His behaviour was alright in the beginning, but starting September, he began touching her under some pretext when she was alone at home. One night, when the girl's father was inebriated and asleep, the accused touched her inappropriately and raped her, the prosecution told the court.
When the girl shouted, the accused gagged her and threatened to kill her if she informed about the incident to anybody. Following the threat, the girl did not tell anyone about the offence and thereafter, the accused frequently touched her inappropriately. When she told him that she would inform her father, the accused left their place.
What did the court say?
Based on the girl's complaint, the police registered an FIR on June 16, 2018. The judge in her order said the offence proved against the accused is "very heinous and disgusting".
"He committed the said offence on a girl below 16 years of age who used to treat and call him as 'mama'," the court said.
"The accused does not appear to have honoured the relationship of a foster maternal uncle with his niece-like girl. Such kind of act between such relations is certainly not acceptable and deserves to be condemned and dealt with a heavy hand in order to send appropriate message in the society to like-minded persons to act as a deterrent," it said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on the accused, saying it shall be paid to the victim to ensure her rehabilitation.
(With PTI inputs)
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