Kerala: High Court upholds ‘life sentence’ of father accused of raping minor daughter

On September 16, the Kerala High Court upheld the verdict of the Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Court, which had sentenced a 44-year-old father to lifetime imprisonement for the rest of his natural life for repeatedly raping his young daughter.

The development in the case came after the accused filed an appeal which was considered by the Division Bench of Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice C Jayachandran.

The case pertains to the incident when a father repeatedly raped his minor daughter and even threatened her with dire consequences.

Earlier, he was charged under Sections 376 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code, and for the commission of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act.

Earlier, the Court had repealed the punishment awarded to the accused under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act because of the unavailability of documents that could prove the survivor's age.

During the last hearing, the Court observed, "in the conservative, tradition-bound, non-permissive society like that of ours, none would make a false accusation of rape, braving ostracism, loss of face, social stigma and shame."

After considering the arguments from both sides, the Court made it clear that it could not find any reason to interfere with the conviction or sentence imposed by the lower court. The court also held that the evidence submitted in the case unequivocally establishes the crime to have been committed by the accused, beyond all reasonable doubt.