MADURAI: A 50-year-old man was arrested by T Kallupatti police on Tuesday for raping and impregnating his 13-year-old stepdaughter. The girl, a class IV dropout, is in her 16th to 18th week of pregnancy. Tests also revealed that the survivor, her mother and the accused are HIV positive.
The incident came to light when doctors at Government Rajaji Hospital found her pregnant after she was admitted there on Sunday evening. She did not divulge anything about the rape despite repeated counselling by doctors and paramedics. On being intimated, the police sought the help of the child welfare committee.
CWC member B Pandiyaraja who counselled the victim and her mother told TOI that the family hailed from Idukki in Kerala. The suvivor’s father died 11 years ago when she was two years old and her elder sister six. The widow married the accused seven years ago as he was known to her for a few years by then. The accused, who was 43 years old at that time, was already married and lived with his family in Madurai. After he married the widow and brought her and the children to Madurai, his wife and children abandoned him. Pandiyaraja said the man has been raping his step-daughter after she attained puberty last September.
The survivor’s mother said she saw the girl crying in the middle of the night once and on finding the man next to her scolded him. This made the police suspect him. She said the girl was sick and almost unconscious when she and her elder daughter returned from work a few weeks ago. Four days ago, she vomited and was taken to Peraiyur government hospital and then to a private hospital in Thirumangalam, from where she was referred to GRH.
The accused was booked under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act on Monday night. Peraiyur DSP T Mathialagan said the man was arrested on Tuesday and will be produced before the court the same night. The trail of HIV infection – whether the man got it from the girl’s mother or vice versa – will be known when results of the tests on the extent of infection are out.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)