'Real threat to society': Delhi court sentences man to life imprisonment for raping daughter

New Delhi: A court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping and impregnating his 17-year-old daughter in 2021, saying he is a "real threat to society".

Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat was hearing the arguments on sentencing against the man who was earlier convicted under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act and the penal provision of rape.

In an order dated March 21, the court said, "The offence committed by convict is one of the most heinous offences. It is totally unacceptable for society that a father has committed rape with his real daughter and also made his daughter carry the pregnancy for about six months." It said that the convict’s act had shocked society’s conscience and if he could commit the offence with his daughter, he could commit a similar crime with other children.

"Thus convict is a real threat to society. The offence is a monstrous act and it does not deserve any kind of leniency and it becomes the duty of this court to safeguard society and to keep the convict out of society for the time as long as possible. The convict is required to be dealt with an iron hand," the court said.

It, however, said that the offence was not in the rarest of rare cases category.

The court sentenced him to life imprisonment, which meant imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.