HYDERABAD: A Nepali teenager who accused her father of raping her at knifepoint in 2023 was forced to embark on a long, solitary fight for justice, with even her mother deserting her during the course of the trial, leaving her to fend for herself.
Justice, however, was delivered with the special court for Pocso cases in Nampally sentencing the girl’s father to rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.
The child of migrant workers from Nepal, the teenager was asleep at their home in September 2023 when her father came home drunk and raped her at knifepoint.
The girl informed her mother about the incident the next day, and the duo approached the Domalguda police and lodged a complaint.
Police arrested the accused and registered a case against him under the stringent Pocso Act. The trial began at the special court for Pocso cases in Nampally.
However, during the course of the trial, the girl’s mother, who worked as a domestic help, turned hostile and refused to testify against her husband. She said police had forced her to lodge a false complaint.
However, the court noted that her earlier statement had clearly recorded her saying that her daughter complained to her about her father sexually assaulting her, the court said in its final verdict on March 18.
The accused contended during the trial that he was impotent and that the girl failed to specify how the assault happened. He added that there was a domestic violence issue at home, which his family exploited to file a false case against him.
However, the court noted that “there was no need for the girl to file a sexual assault case against her own father”. After examining 11 witnesses, 14 exhibits, and three materials related to the case, the court sentenced the girl’s father and awarded 2 lakh compensation to girl.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)