A girl’s foster uncle receives 20 years’ prison sentence for rape

The 54-year-old accused does not seem to have appreciated his maternal foster uncle’s relationship with the girl, said special POCSO court judge Ruby U Malvankar in an order dated July 5.

A copy of the order was made available on Monday.

The man was convicted of rape, criminal intimidation and various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO).

Special Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale told the court that the victim, then 16, approached the police with a complaint in 2018, stating that she lived with her father and two brothers in the Manpada area of ​​Thane district in Maharashtra.

In August 2017, their maternal foster uncle, a chef by profession and from Ahmednagar, came to stay with them.

He behaved well for a few days, but in September he began touching her under false pretenses when no one else was home.

One night, when the girl’s father was drunk and asleep, the defendant touched her inappropriately and raped her, the prosecutor told the court.

When the girl screamed, the defendant gagged her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident.

After the threat, the girl did not tell anyone about the crime and was subsequently frequently touched inappropriately by the defendant.

When she told him that she would inform her father, the defendants left their seats.

Based on the girl’s complaint, the police filed a report on June 16, 2018.

In her ruling, the judge stated that the crime the defendant was found to have committed was “very heinous and disgusting.”

“He committed the crime in question against a girl under 16 years of age who always treated him and addressed him like ‘mummy,'” the court said.

“The accused does not seem to have appreciated the relationship of a maternal foster uncle with his niece-like daughter. Such an act between such relatives is certainly unacceptable and deserves to be condemned and severely punished in order to send an appropriate signal to like-minded people in the society and to create a deterrent effect,” it said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on the accused and said that the same must be paid to the victim to ensure her rehabilitation.

It was also ordered that the judgment be forwarded to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to ensure adequate compensation to the victim.