On Friday (31 January 2025), a Kerala court sentenced a man convicted of raping his granddaughter 8 years ago to life imprisonment.
The issue arose in 2017 when the victim’s maternal grandfather reported that the 11-year-old girl committed suicide due to sexual abuse by her father. The girl’s father filed a complaint against the grandfather.
Kottarakkara Fast Track Special Court Judge Anju Meera Birla sentenced the maternal grandfather to three life terms under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, stating that the imprisonment would last for the remainder of his life.
The court sentenced the convict to 10 years for the unnatural offence under section 377 of the IPC and imposed a total fine of Rs 40,000. However, he was acquitted of the offence under section 305 of the IPC.
Based on the complaint filed by the victim’s father, the police launched a probe and found that the father had been living separately from the child since 2015 after a domestic violence case was filed against him.
The grandfather, however, was convicted based on the victim’s elder sister’s statement accusing him of raping her and her sibling. The victim’s mother and sister turned hostile during the trial. The court recommended compensation for the victim under the CrPC and Kerala Victim Compensation Scheme.
