New Delhi: A man has been jailed for five years by a Delhi court for molesting and sexually assaulting his 14-year-old daughter last year.
The court said though the act of the 40-year-old man amounts to sexual assault, since he was father of the victim, his act became aggravated sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
"I am of the considered opinion that the testimony of the victim to the extent that she made false allegations against the accused at the behest of a police official is not trustworthy and appears to be the result of afterthought.
"I am also of the view that from her testimony it becomes clear that she had lodged a true complaint with the police that accused had assaulted her," Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain said and also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000.
The court also asked Delhi Legal Service Authority (DLSA) to assess and give compensation to the victim to enable her to complete her studies and to become financially independent.
It noted that prior to this case, the victim had lodged a complaint against her father regarding a similar incident.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place on July 10, last year when the minor came home from her coaching class and asked her father about her mother.
The man told her that he was not aware where her mother was and after passing some comments, he sexually assaulted her. He also threatened to kill the girl when she raised an alarm and asked her not disclosed this to anyone, it said.
Later on, when her mother came home, the victim told her about the incident and they lodged a case at Sarai Rohilla Police Station.
The girl and her mother, however, changed their statements in the court, saying the man had not done anything with the minor and they had given wrong details to the cops earlier at the behest of a woman police officer.
During the trial, the man claimed that on the day of the incident, he was in an inebriated condition and had a quarrel with his daughter and abused her but he had not sexually assault her.
