Special Mumbai court convicts father, his two friends to 20-year jail for gang-rape of minor daughter

Special Judge S C Jadhav convicted the three accused, who were booked for offences punishable under Section 376-D pertaining to gang rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions of the Pocso Act. He also ordered 20 years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 each and directed the amount to be given to the victim as compensation.

According to the prosecution, the father, who indulges in drug peddling was released in April 2018 from Arthur Road jail, where he was lodged for over two years in an attempt to murder case.

In her testimony to the court, the victim said that her father had begun sexually assaulting her a few days after his return from prison by drugging her when her younger siblings would be not at home. The victim’s mother did not live in the same house.

The victim had added that her father and his two friends would take her to the Bandstand area in Bandra, where they took turns sexually assaulting her. The minor victim, in her statement to the police, stated that she narrated the ordeal to her mother, but she did not believe her and abused her instead. Thereafter, the victim left her home and went to Panvel, where she started begging.

Special Public Prosecutor Veena Shelar said that the matter came to light after the personnel from Railway Childline found the victim at the CSMT Station 15 days after she had run away from her home. The victim had narrated the story to the childline personnel, after which the police complaint was filed and she was accommodated at the children’s home in Dongri.