Delhi court convicts step father of raping minor daughter

New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) A court here has convicted a man of committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault and impregnating his minor step daughter, saying the evidence on record established that the accused repeatedly raped her.
     Additional Sessions Judge Babita Puniya was hearing the case against the step father, who was accused of raping the girl in May 2019.
     He was booked under penal provisions of rape and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
     Special Public Prosecutor Sharawan Kumar Bishnoi appeared for the prosecution.
     "I am of the view that the prosecution has established the commission of aggravated penetrative sexual assault upon the victim not only by medical and scientific evidence but also by oral evidence of the victim which is duly corroborated by her mother and mami (maternal aunt)," the judge said convicting the step father.
     The court rejected the argument by the accused that a false case was foisted on him by his wife due to matrimonial disputes, saying it was "an afterthought just concocted to wriggle out of the predicament".
     Noting the evidence before it, the bench said it was also proved that the accused committed repeated sexual assaults, because of which the minor became pregnant and her pregnancy was later medically terminated.
     It also trashed the argument about the victim not stating specific dates.
     "I consider it unfair to expect a child victim of aggravated penetrative sexual assault to remember each and every date of such assault. Merely because she could not tell the exact dates when she was sexually assaulted by her step father, it does not make her an untrustworthy, untruthful or unreliable witness," the judge said.
     The victim, however, gave a detailed account of those incidents, she added.
     "I find that her evidence has a ring of truth. Despite her young age, the victim's evidence was consistent and clear," ASJ Puniya said in the judgment pronounced on April 10.
     The arguments on sentencing will be heard later.
     The court noted that in the absence of age-related documents of the victim, a bone ossification test was conducted, which revealed her age as between 15 and 16 years on the date of the alleged offence.
     "Even if we apply the margin of error principle on one year on either side, the age would be between 14 and 17 years," it said.
     The court also rejected the arguments on behalf of the accused that the victim's sister and brother, who were sleeping in the room, at the time of the offence were not examined as witnesses.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)