The Thane Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court, on Friday, has convicted a 45-year-old man for raping his 13-year-old daughter and impregnating her in 2017. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case was registered with APMC police and the convict was arrested on December 27, 2017 after his wife registered a complaint against him.
The convict and his wife, both labourers, stayed at Kopri village along with their daughter. At nights after getting drunk, the convict used to rape his daughter for more than a year. According to the police, the convict is suspected to have raped his daughter on more than 20 occasions.
“After the victim started facing health issues due to which she was taken to a doctor, it was confirmed that she was six months’ pregnant. On being asked by her mother, she revealed what her father did, following which she registered a complaint with us and we arrested the convict,” the then investigating officer and police inspector Ram Chopde said.
As per the victim’s mother, she used to be very tired after the labour work and would sleep, due to which she never realised what was happening. The convict was arrested under sections of rape and under the POCSO Act.
“Since it was beyond the abortion period, the baby boy was born and then handed over to an organisation that helped the child get adopted into a family. The DNA report of the baby helped in the conviction. Besides, there were close to seven witnesses to the case including the victim, her mother and the doctor,” Chopde said.
The man was convicted by Thane joint district and additional session judge VV Virkar for life with a penalty of ₹25,000.