Kasaragod: A Kasaragod court on Thursday found a 39-year-old man guilty of sexually abusing and assaulting his niece for eight years -- from Class I to VIII.
The sustained abuse at the hands of a relative she trusted sent her into clinical depression, said public prosecutor for sex crimes against children Prakash Ammannaya.
Kasaragod Additional Sessions Court (I) judge A Manoj sentenced the maternal uncle to serve two to 15 years in prison for each of the nine counts of aggravated sexual assault he was charged with. "In all, the court sentenced the relative to 97 years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 8.5 lakh. If the fine is not paid, he will have to serve another 8.5 years in prison," said Adv Ammannaya.
The maternal uncle will have to serve only 15 years in prison because the sentences will run concurrently, he said.
The court ruled that the fine amount should be given to the girl.
Maternal uncle was financially supporting the family
The maternal uncle ran businesses in Malaysia and Singapore, and he used to abuse the girl whenever he came home for vacation, said the prosecution.
The girl's father had deserted the family and her mother's brother was financially supporting them. "But he started abusing the girl from the age of six to 13 years," said Adv Ammannaya.
The abuse started in 2008 and went on till 2016 when she was in Class VIII.
After completing Class X, she fell into clinical depression and had to seek medical help, he said.
After Class X, she approached the District Legal Service Authority's secretary, who is also a subordinate judge. "The judge heard her out and sent her to the Mahila Mandiram (rehabilitation home for women), where she got the help of counsellors," he said.
The girl shared her ordeal and the police were called in.
Based on her statement, Manjeshwar police registered a case and charged her maternal uncle with sodomy (Section 377 of IPC), rape (Section 376 of IPC), repeated penetrative sexual assault on a child below 12 years by a relative [Section 5 (l), (m), (n), (p), Section 9 (m), (n) and Section 12 of POCSO Act].
The court found him guilty of all the charges. "We procured the conviction despite the girl turning hostile in court," said Adv Ammannaya.
The girl had given her statements to the police and the court, accusing her maternal uncle of abusing her. "The girl's mother was always hostile but the girl stuck to her statement during the prosecution's examination. She turned hostile when the defence cross-examined her," said the public prosecutor.
But the then Manjeshwar Station House Officer Inspector Pramod, who investigated the case, had medical evidence to prove she was assaulted by her maternal uncle. "The girl must have been subjected to immense pressure to turn hostile. But the court went by her statement and scientific evidence to convict him," said Adv Ammannaya.
