Delhi HC upholds life term for father who raped, sodomised 9-yr-old daughter

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has upheld the life imprisonment awarded to a man for repeatedly raping and sodomising his nine-year-old daughter, saying instead of protecting her, he had indulged in a "dehumanising act.”

The division bench held that the man does not deserve any leniency as he has violated the privacy and sanctity of his own daughter, who was of a tender age.

The court, which relied on the testimony of the child, said no ulterior motive was assigned to the child witness to make a false statement against her father and it was not an easy task for her to implicate him for the heinous offence.

It said she did not dare to lodge any complaint against him for long and suffered in silence.

The bench dismissed the man's appeal challenging his conviction and sentence, saying the trial court judgment was based on fair appreciation of evidence and warranted no intervention.

"Regarding sentence, the man does not deserve any leniency. Being the father of the child of tender age, it was his duty to secure her welfare and to protect her from the evil eyes of others. Contrary to that, he himself indulged in a dehumanising act and violated the privacy and sanctity of his own daughter. Sentence order needs no modification," Justices S P Garg and C Hari Shankar said.

The child, who was ravished several times by her father when her mother was not at home, did not inform her mother as she was threatened by him.

Later, when the girl's teacher noticed injury marks on her body and inquired about it, she came to know that she was being physically abused by her father.

A complaint was lodged by the child's mother with the police in 2012 and he was sentenced to life term in 2013. During the trial, the man had denied his complicity in the crime and pleaded false implication.

The high court, however, said the man had not divulged as to what had forced the girl and her mother to level serious allegations of sexual assault against him.

"In the absence of any prior dispute or quarrel in the family, the child was not expected to involve her own father to bring herself in disrepute. Her statement is consistent throughout and her evidence inspires complete confidence," it said.