Maharashtra: 50-Year-Old Man Rapes Minor Daughter-In-Law, Court Awards Life Imprisonment

A court in Maharashtra has awarded life imprisonment to a 50-year-old man for raping his teenaged daughter-in-law in 2015. Additional Sessions Judge A U Kadam, in her order on Monday, said the accused, who worked as a driver in a government department and resided in Palghar, needed to be convicted with a strong sentence.

She pronounced the accused guilty under Indian Penal Code sections for rape and criminal intimidation and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Additional public prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar told the court that in 2015, the victim, then aged 15, got married and her husband, who was studying hotel management, used to be out of the house for most part of the day.

The victim’s mother-in-law also used to go out of the house sometimes for work. In October 2015, the accused raped the victim on several occasions, the prosecutor told the court.

The victim later became pregnant and the accused raped her in that condition also when other family members were away, and when she resisted his advances, he threatened her with dire consequences.

When the victim went to her parent’s house, the accused warned her not to disclose anything to her family members, or else he would break her marriage.

According to the prosecution, the victim informed her husband and mother-in-law about the offence, but they ignored her pleas.

The victim later underwent an abortion and subsequently went to Tulinj police station with her family members and filed a case, following which the accused was arrested.

The trial in the case was held in-camera. Taking serious note of the offence, the judge in her order sentenced the accused to life imprisonment while observing that the prosecution successfully proved all charges against him.