A case from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh has shaken one of the most trusted bonds there is, that between a father and his daughter. A stepfather raped his own 11-year-old daughter and left her pregnant. A special POCSO court in Bilaspur has now handed him the harshest possible punishment, ruling that he will remain behind bars until his last breath.
Delivering the verdict, the court of Additional Sessions Judge Pooja Jaiswal made sharp and grave observations. The court stated plainly that this was no ordinary crime, but a direct assault on an innocent child's trust and on her constitutional and social right to protection. Calling the act completely unforgivable, the court also strongly recommended that the convict pay seven lakh rupees in compensation to the victim, a sum meant to support her rehabilitation and recovery.
A family broken during Covid, then a 'bangle marriage'
The story traces back to the Covid period, when the victim's mother was abandoned by her first husband, who left her and her young daughter to fend for themselves. Left alone and with the burden of supporting herself and her child, the woman entered into a 'chudi vivah', a customary bangle marriage, with the accused. The two then began living together as husband and wife in the same home.
Alone in Mumbai, the abuse began
To earn a living and run the household, the accused took the woman and her 11-year-old daughter to Mumbai, where he worked as a security guard at an under-construction three-storey building. One day, when his wife was away from home, he took advantage of the moment, overpowered the child and raped her. He went on to cross every line of cruelty, not once but repeatedly.
The truth surfaced during an Ayushman survey
In December, when the family returned from Mumbai to their native village of Ratanpur in Chhattisgarh, a local mitanin named Smriti Gopal noticed the girl's heavily swollen belly during a government Ayushman survey. She immediately informed the child's mother and advised her, without delay, to take the girl to a larger hospital.
Acting on that advice, the woman took her daughter to SIMS hospital. When doctors carried out a sonography, the report left everyone stunned. The 11-year-old child was found to be eight months pregnant.
A DNA report nailed the real culprit
At first, fearing social shame, the woman had blamed drug-addict youths for the assault. But the then in-charge of Ratanpur police station, Rajnish Singh, was not fully convinced by her statement. His suspicion pointed straight at the stepfather living inside the house. Police collected DNA samples from the child and her stepfather, and they matched the newborn one hundred percent. With this crucial evidence, the accused's heinous crime stood fully proven before the court.
