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Synopsis

A division bench of the Bombay High Court at Aurangabad comprising Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Abhay Waghase has recently upheld the life imprisonment awarded to a father whose daughter delivered a baby at the age of 15 years after being raped by his father. 

The division bench while upholding the conviction said that the trial court should have considered the death sentence since it was the rarest of the rare case.

"In fact, the trial court has not considered it to be the rarest of the rare case as Section 6 of the POCSO Act prescribes death also as alternative punishment to the imprisonment for life and, therefore, it can be said that in that way a leniency has been shown to the accused" the court said.

The high court was hearing an appeal filed by a father against the judgement of the Special POCSO Court awarding life imprisonment to him for raping his daughter. 

In 2014, an FIR was lodged against the father by the victim's grandmother. The grandmother had taken the victim to the hospital due to a complaint about leg pain. However, upon examination, it was revealed that the 15-year-old victim was pregnant and subsequently gave birth. Following this, the victim disclosed to her grandmother that she had been sexually exploited by her father. Notably, the victim's mother passed away in 2011.

The father countered by asserting that the victim had never lodged any complaint against him at any juncture. He also emphasized that the victim continued her daily routines until her pregnancy reached seven months. He maintained that the mere fact of a DNA test linking the victim and him as parents of the child should not automatically result in his conviction.

The Additional Public Prosecutor, along with the victim's Advocate, contended that the victim had experienced a missed menstrual cycle, but her sister reassured her that it wasn't a cause for concern. They further presented evidence from a DNA report confirming that the newborn was indeed the biological child of the accused father.

The division bench while upholding the life imprisonment said that a daughter considers her father as her hero and she is a princess to his father. 

"It is said that a daughter is always princess to the father and the daughters consider the father as their Hero. There is also a special bonding between the father and daughter. When such incidents do happen about ravishing of the daughter by the father himself, then, it is a scar on the humanity. Such acts would be done only to fulfill the lust. When a father is expected to protect the daughter and when the daughter is minor, he is the guardian of the daughter, then the father like accused deserve maximum punishment. Here, in this case, the victim has delivered a child," the court said.

Case title: XYZ vs State of Maharashtra