Artist (81) held for ‘digital rape’ of minor for 7 years

Noida: An 81-year-old sketch artist was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a 17-year-old student, who was under the care of his live-in partner. The alleged assault, police said, began when the girl was just 10 and continued for the next seven years till his arrest.
The artist was held for ‘digital rape’ — forced penetration using fingers and toes — following a complaint by his live-in partner.
Digital rape was not considered under the ambit of ‘rape’ until December 2012, when the Nirbhaya gang rape triggered a slew of reforms in the laws dealing with sexual violence.
The accused, married with two children, is originally from Allahabad and had shifted to Noida with his family 20 years ago. His current live-in partner, whom he met after he reached Noida, moved in with him and his family a few years later. The artist is separated from his wife, who went back to Allahabad with their children.
The man’s partner is a 40-year-old woman from Delhi. “Eight years ago, the artist’s live-in went to Himachal Pradesh for some work. One of her staffers sent her daughter to live with her in Noida so that the minor girl could get quality education. The accused started harassing the girl from 2015, when she was just 10,” additional deputy commissioner of police Ranvijay Singh told TOI.
Scared, the girl did not complain for years. “But over the past month, she started recording his advances, mostly as audio files. She collected evidence and showed it to the live-in partner. The woman then approached the police,” Singh said.
Noida police have booked the man under sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, and under sections 5 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The accused was produced before a local court on Sunday and remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody.