Cook is sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping his underage foster niece in Thane

A 54-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping a minor in Thane, Maharashtra. The accused, described as the minor’s “foster uncle”, was also fined Rs 22,000, which will be paid to the victim for her rehabilitation.

The order was issued by a court in Thane on Monday.

According to Special Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale, the case was registered in 2018 on a complaint from the minor when she was 16 years old and living with her father and two brothers in Manpada. The accused – a cook based in Ahmednagar, whom the girl considered as an uncle of sorts – came to live with the family then.

After a few days of his stay in September, he began inappropriately touching the victim and one day, while her father was sleeping, he raped her. He also threatened the girl that he would kill her if she told anyone. The inappropriate touching continued for several days until the girl reportedly told him she would tell her father.

In 2018, a complaint was filed against the accused and an FIR was lodged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and sections of the IPC.

What the court said

Special POCSO Court Judge Ruby U. Malvankar said in her verdict that the accused did not seem to appreciate the relationship with a foster uncle on his mother’s side. “The offence was very heinous and disgusting. He committed the said offence on a girl below 16 years of age, always calling her ‘mummy’ and treating her as such,” she added.

“Such an act between such relationships is certainly unacceptable and deserves to be condemned and punished harshly in order to send a corresponding signal to like-minded people in society and to have a deterrent effect,” the court said.

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