'Unspeakable Betrayal Of Trust': Odisha POCSO Court Sentences Father To 20 Years Rigorous Imprisonment For Repeated Rape Of Minor Daughter

“When a child is condemned to suffer such agonizing degradation at the hands of her own progenitor, the voice of the law must resound with uncompromising, absolute fortitude,” observed a Special Court in Odisha, constituted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (the 'POCSO Act'), while convicting a father for repeatedly committing rape and molestation on his minor daughter over a period of seven years.While handing down the punishment of rigorous imprisonment for twenty years to the convict, Abhilash Senapati, Additional Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge (POCSO), Jajpur observed–“The allegations of rape in this particular case is not only the sexual ravishment by a perverse father but the unspeakable betrayal of trust by none other than the father of the victim. When perpetrator is the father, the crime assumes a demonic character. Such offences deserve nothing but the severest condemnation and deterrent punishment…When a paternal figure, ordained by nature and society to stand as an impenetrable shield, a vigilant guardian, and an unerring moral compass, transmutes instead into the author of the most harrowing violation of a child's bodily integrity and innate dignity, the resultant betrayal transcends the personal; it shatters the foundational institution of human trust.”The accused, being the father of the victim/informant, allegedly started molesting her when she was aged merely 12-year-old in the year 2017. According to the prosecution, the accused repeatedly touched the private parts and breasts of the minor victim and forced her to hold his penis in order to masturbate. The victim allegedly protested against such act, but she was silenced by her father by the threat of murder, abandonment and financial deprivation.When the victim turned 14-year-old in 2019 and was a student of Class-IX, the accused allegedly established sexual intercourse with her forcefully. When victim informed about bleeding from her private part and about the entire incident to her mother, she purportedly advised the victim to stay silent for the sake of family's prestige in the society.The accused allegedly had sex with her minor daughter/victim on multiple occasions when she visited home from school hostel. When the victim joined a College in Keonjhar to pursue her intermediate course (+2), the accused went to her for almost eight to ten times over a period of two years under the guise of meeting and took her to a private lodge where he used to have sexual intercourse against her will. When she joined a College in Cuttack for pursuing her graduation (+3), the accused continued his carnal conduct by taking the victim to a lodge.Being helpless, when the victim apprised the situation to his uncle, he arranged her marriage in 2024. Even subsequent to her marriage, the accused directed her to visit him by blackmailing to post her private and intimate photos as well as videos on social media. As per prosecution allegations, the accused once sent obscene and sexually explicit materials to the phone of victim's mother-in-law in order to blackmail the victim to submit to his desire.Being harassed by such repeated intimidation, the victim allegedly attempted to commit suicide by ingesting phenyl and cutting her wrist. However, she was saved by medical intervention. After brief recovery when she narrated the ordeal to her father-in-law, he also allegedly tried to take advantage of her vulnerability and attempted to establish an illicit sexual relationship with her. Learning about the incidents, her husband expressed disinclination to continue the conjugal life and left her at her maternal uncle's house.Subsequently, with the help of 'One Stop Centre-SAKHI', the victim went to the police station for registering an FIR. After thorough investigation, the police filed a charge-sheet against the accused-father for commission of offences under Sections 341, 294, 354, 354-A, 376(2)(f)(n), 506, and 34 of the IPC read with Sections 4(2), 6, 10, 12, and 15 of the POCSO Act, and Sections 67 and 67(A) of the IT Act.The age and minority of the victim was proved through the school admission register, which reflected her date of birth as 10.03.2005, making her 12-year-old at the initial molestation and merely 14-year-old during the first sexual intercourse by the accused.In order to bring home the charges against the accused, the prosecution heavily relied upon the lucent testimony of the victim. The victim remained consistent and clear not only in her statements recorded under Sections 180 and 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) but also in her deposition before the Court. The Court was satisfied and found her evidence to be heavily reliable when her version did not tilt even after thorough cross-examination by the defence.By relying upon her testimony, the Court held that she was molested repeatedly from 2017 by her accused-father, who not only touched her breasts and vagina but also forced her through...

'Unspeakable Betrayal Of Trust': Odisha POCSO Court Sentences Father To 20 Years Rigorous Imprisonment For Repeated Rape Of Minor Daughter

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'Unspeakable Betrayal Of Trust': Odisha POCSO Court Sentences Father To 20 Years Rigorous Imprisonment For Repeated Rape Of Minor Daughter

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