New Delhi:
A man, convicted for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old step-daughter for four months, has been sentenced to jail for 10 years by a Delhi court which observed that his "deplorable and unthinkable" acts do not deserve any leniency.
The court handed down the jail term to the 35-year-old man, a Delhi resident, for offences punishable under provision of Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.
"Though, the victim is not the real daughter of convict....it was expected that the convict would bring her up as his real daughter and would show same respect for her dignity, well-being and chastity as he would have done for his real daughters.
"To the contrary, the convict sexually abused his step daughter, repeatedly, and also criminally intimidated her. The deplorable and unthinkable acts of convict do not call for any leniency and I hereby sentence him," Additional Sessions Judge Illa Rawat said.
The court also said although the man was the step father of the minor victim, he was required to discharge his responsibility towards her and her siblings and "he ought to have lived up to the faith and trust reposed in him by his children including the victim".
It also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 on the man, who was working with an orchestra party here.
According to the prosecution, the accused had repeatedly raped his 14-year-old step-daughter from August to December 2012.
It said that accused had "criminally intimidated" her not to disclose about the incident to anyone by threatening to kill her and the matter was disclosed to the police when the girl told her mother about it in January 2013.
Her mother then took her to police station where an FIR was lodged on the basis of the girl's complaint, it said.
During the trial, the accused claimed he had been falsely implicated in this case by the victim as he had objected her friendly relations with two boys.
The court sentenced the man and asked the Delhi government to grant compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the girl.