Surat court sentences foster father, kin to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping adopted daughter

“The victim is only 13 years and one should imagine the mental condition of the victim. The accused are none other than her family members like her father (foster), her uncle and her cousin brothers, who took advantage of her adopted child and raped her. In every culture, father primarily has the role of a protector, provider and disciplinarian, while in this case the protector became predator. The act of the accused amounts to betrayal of faith in humanity,” Judge S N Solanki observed in the order.

The order further added, “Rape is a traumatic experience that affects the victim in a physical, psychological, sociological way. In such types of cases, no leniency to child rapists can be shown, it’s like rubbing salt into wounds. Recently, the Delhi High Court held that ‘child rape inexcusable, no mercy or leniency should be shown to offender’. Considering that in the present case, the guardian of the victim is the offender, it is the duty of the court to award an appropriate sentence.”

As per the case details, the childless couple from Surat had adopted their daughter from Surat Nari Gruh (women’s home) when she was a four-month-old baby. On May 5, 2023, the girl’s foster mother lodged a police complaint saying that her adopted daughter was repeatedly raped by the accused on separate occasions during the August to December 2021 period.

The mother said that she learnt of the crime when she found some scars on her daughter’s body and questioned her about them. After her daughter’s revelation, the woman told the police, she questioned her husband. He allegedly lost his cool, started to quarrel, assaulted her and later threatened to leave her at her parents’ home.

Following the complaint, the police arrested the four accused on May 6, 2023. They carried out a medical examination of the girl and all the accused, gathered evidence and recorded statements of the witnesses. On June 13, 2023, the police filed a chargesheet and charges were framed on August 28. All the accused were arrested and the trial began on September 16. The mother who filed the complaint turned hostile during the trial.

On Monday, 4th Additional Session Judge Special Fast Track Court (Pocso) S N Solanki convicted all four accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the rape of a minor.

Assistant Public Prosecutor D V Dave said, “In our arguments, we have mentioned in court that a safer place for a person in the world is his house/home, but here in this case, the home is not safer for the victim girl, where will she go. Here at her home, the protectors are predators. The accused had committed a heinous crime and she has suffered mental and physical pain a lot. For such crimes, we have requested the court for maximum punishment to be awarded to the accused and set an example in the society, so that people would be scared before committing such crimes. We are well satisfied with the court’s order.”

Defence lawyer A H Khyali said that they would read the order and take a call on whether it should be challenged.

The accused are currently in judicial custody at Surat Central Jail.