New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has refused any leniency in the punishment awarded to a man for raping his minor step-daughter and making her pregnant.
Justice S.P. Garg denied any relief to Kishan Lal, who was sentenced to seven years’ jail for the crime, saying he stood in a “fiduciary capacity and was duty bound to protect her”.
Lal has challenged the July 2013 conviction and sentencing orders of trial court.
“The appellant (Lal) being the step-father of the victim is not imagined to have sexual relations even with her consent. He stood in a fiduciary capacity and was duty bound to protect her. Beside this, she (victim) was about 14 years old on the date of lodging the report; she was aged about 12 years when for the first time she was subjected to rape,” said the court.
As per the prosecution, the girl used to live with her mother and step-father at Sangam Vihar. On May 3, 2011, the mother reported the incident to police disclosing that her husband used to repeatedly rape her daughter for the last two years after threatening her.
A medical examination confirmed the rape while the victim was also found to be pregnant. She underwent an abortion but the foetus was preserved and the DNA report confirmed Lal to be responsible.
