A court here on Saturday sentenced a 33-year-old man to life imprisonment for repeatedly raping the 13-year-old daughter of his live-in partner here, a government counsel said.
The accused committed the crime after the girl's mother allegedly killed herself and the minor was staying alone with him, he added.
A POCSO court in Jhalawar convicted Pratap Singh Sondhya in the case, awarded him life term and imposing a fine of Rs 3 lakh, said Public Prosecutor Ramhetar Gurjar.
The matter pertains to a complaint lodged at Dug police station in Jhalawar on December 12, 2022, Gurjar said.
The survivor was 5-year-old when her mother moved in with the accused. She was living alone with the man after her mother died by suicide five years later, he said.
In her complaint, the minor alleged that the accused repeatedly raped her for around 3-4 months before she fled the house and went to her maternal grandmother's home who later took her to the police, the public prosecutor said.
Based on the complaint, the police lodged a case of rape against Sondhya under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and SC/ST Act and arrested him within a day, he said.
The man was lodged in jail under judicial custody since December 13, 2022, he added.
The POCSO court on Saturday held Sondhya guilty of repeated rape and sexual exploitation of the 13-year-old girl based on the statements of 15 witnesses and relevant documents, the prosecutor said.
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