Man rapes minor daughter, gets life imprisonment

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for raping his nine-year-old daughter in an inebriated state.

The court, while holding Delhi resident Ganga Sahay, 32 guilty of raping his daughter, said he had not only committed “incest” but as the minor was in his custody, he has also committed a ‘custodial’ rape.

An additional sessions judge Kamini Lau also directed the Delhi government to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh under the Restorative and Compensatory Justice scheme to the girl, keeping in view her physical and psychological condition as she was admitted in hospital for five days after the incident.

According to police, the incident took place in May this year when Sahay, a rickshaw puller, came to his house in north- west Delhi in an inebriated condition and saw his five children sleeping while his wife had gone to work.

Sahay then raped his daughter, who was rescued by the landlord who had rushed to the house of the accused at a different floor of the building after hearing the child’s screams, it said.

The landlord then informed the police and the girl’s mother and also took the injured child to the hospital.

Sahay sought leniency in sentencing on the ground that he was illiterate and had to support his family.

The court, however, refused to show leniency saying he first raped his own daughter and then tried to shift the blame on his landlord, who had saved the girl, by alleging that his wife was into a relationship with the landlord and they had falsely implicated him in the case.

Charges absolved

A man has been absolved by a Delhi court of the charges of raping his sister-in-law after her husband's death as the woman failed to appear before it.

Additional sessions judge (ASJ) Rakesh Kumar acquitted city resident Sandeep of raping his sister-in-law, married to his brother in 1995, saying the prosecution has failed to secure the woman's presence.

“In the light of circumstances where the prosecution has failed to secure the presence of the complainant (woman) and as the rest of the witnesses are immaterial and inconsequential in her absence, I have no option but to acquit the accused of the charge levelled against him,” the judge said.

According to the prosecution, the woman had approached the court seeking registration of an FIR against her in-laws including Sandeep and four others alleging that he had raped her and the other four accused had abetted the crime. The case, however, was registered only against Sandeep.

The woman had alleged that after her husband's death in 1996, her in-laws used to ill-treat her and in October 2007, they sent the accused in her room and he raped her on knife point. She had also alleged that nobody came to her help and the family members threatened to kill her.

During investigation, it came out that the woman used to quarrel with her in-laws to get her re-married to her younger brother-in-law Sandeep and to give her share in the property. It was also revealed that after the family refused to accept her demands, she filed the case.