Chennai: “We feel remorse to observe that no words of solace and comfort, no amount of compensation, no amount of punishment to the accused can undo the damage done to the child and her innocence”, said a division bench comprising Justices R. Subbiah and A.D. Jagadish Chandra of the Madras High Court while upholding the life sentence awarded to an accused of causing aggravated penetrative assault four times under threat on his own 16-year-old daughter.
“We hope and believe that time, the great healer, will restore her back to normalcy. At the same time, we could only observe that given the nature and magnitude of the offence committed by the accused, even though we feel that the sentence imposed on the accused is inadequate, we could not also enhance the sentence imposed on the accused than the one our legislators have indicated under the Pocso Act for the offences punishable under section 5 (l) and 6 thereof”, the bench added.
The bench confirmed the order of the Mahila Court, Madurai convicting and sentencing A. Kalimuthu to life imprisonment. The Mahila court also directed the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the victim girl for the trauma and mental disturbance suffered by her on account of the act of Kalimuthu.
The bench said the victim girl, has given a clear narration of the manner in which she was ravaged by none else than her father. It is her version that her father had committed aggravated penetrative sexual assault four times. “In a case of this nature, we are of the view that the sole testimony of the victim girl, if it is clear and cogent, is sufficient to hold the accused guilty of the offence complained of. On careful examination of the deposition of the victim girl, coupled with the deposition of her mother and brother (12 years old), we are of the view that their testimony is cogent and corroborative with each other”, the bench added.
The bench said, “A daughter always looks up to her father as a shield of her dignity and honour which is an intrinsic facet of a family especially of a father-daughter relationship.”
