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Thane: A special POCSO court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment for raping his 8-year-old niece on multiple occasions in 2020.
Judge V L Bhosale, in her order on January 6, said there is no reason to award minimum sentence than prescribed to the 56-year-old accused, and pronounced him guilty under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The court's judgement came after considering the age of the victim and the accused and the "manner of commission of the sexual offence and highly objectionable and shameful conduct of the accused.
It also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the accused, hailing from Nayanagar in Mira Road area.
A copy of the order was made available on Monday.
Special Public Prosecutor Varsha Chandane told the court that the victim and the accused were relatives.
In March 2020, the victim's mother sent her to her sister-in-law's house in Mira Road area here.
Between March and June 2020, the husband of her sister-in-law raped the girl in the house on multiple occasions.
The victim's mother, who had gone to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, could not return due to the Covid-19 and lockdown.
The victim, meanwhile, went to the house of another relative where she narrated her ordeal.
Her mother later returned and got to know about the offence following which she lodged a complaint with the local police.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.
The judge in her order also said that considering the serious nature of the offence and mental trauma suffered by the minor victim, a compensation needs to be granted to her and directed that the case be referred for it to the District Legal Services Authority.