TIRUPATI: A special court for exclusive trial of cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act convicted and sentenced a 45-year-old man to life imprisonment on a charge that he tried to rape his minor daughter. His wife was also given a life sentence for abetment to the crime.
According to a statement from the Chittoor district police, the parents were as G. Krishnamurthy (45) and his wife D. Dhanamma (35), residents of T. Vadduru village under Palamaner urban police limits in Chittoor district.
On November 3, 2018, the minor daughter, then aged 13, filed a case against her parents at Palamaner Urban PS. She said her father tried to rape her while her mother helped him do this.
The police registered a case under Section 376 and 109 IPC and Section 5 r/w 6 of POCSO Act-2012. They arrested the accused couple the next day.
After collecting evidence and the medical records, the police prepared the charge-sheet and filed it at the Special POCSO court.
Additional district and In-charge Special POCSO court judge N Shanthi convicted the accused by relying on evidence from the witnesses and documents. The judge refused to show leniency to the father and the mother.
“Since the convict has made her daughter fall prey to gratify his sexual lust, exemplary punishment is required to be imposed on him to deter other miscreants from getting themselves involved in such kind of heinous acts. Punishment will be exemplary if the maximum punishment prescribed for the offence is imposed,” the court observed.
It also awarded life sentence to the mother and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the couple and ordered a Rs 3 lakh compensation to the victim girl.
