A 39-year-old man was sentenced to prison for 40 years by a local court in a case of sexual assault. The man had assaulted his stepdaughter for three years continuously. As the lockdown started in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the torture of the minor girl increased. The minor girl aged 15 years, gathered some courage and took help from her mother to inform the police.
The man who sexually assaulted was a driver professionally and belonged from the Beniapukur area of Kolkata. Rs 20,000 has been fined from the man, by the court of the additional district judge, Sealdah.
A sum of Rs 3 lakh was granted to the victim of the assault for rehabilitation in accordance with the 2018 Calcutta High Court order, which states that a victim should be granted compensation if his/her fundamental rights are violated.
On July 27, the girl informed the police that her stepfather was sexually assaulting her since 2018 at their home. An officer said that her stepfather was arrested on the same day and charged under POSCO, the Times of India reported.
Soon after the police nabbed the accused stepfather, a medical examination of the woman was conducted, and her statement was recorded by a judicial magistrate. According to a police officer, all the necessary forensic details were gathered and a charge sheet was filed in just over a week, TOI reported.
After the trial was completed, the court sentenced 40 years to prison for the 39-year-old man.
The investigation, the trial was completed quickly, and several NGOs welcomed the decision of the court. The NGOs have also appreciated the quickness in which the police conducted the investigation. The investigation was headed by SI Anima Biswas and she was assisted by SI Ramkrishna Das, a police officer said to the TOI.