Kerala special Fast Track Court sentenced a woman to 40 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹ 20,000 for letting her lovers molest her two daughters in her presence. She has been convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
In case of failure to pay the fine, the woman will subjected to 6 more months of imprisonment.
The incident allegedly took place between 2018 and 2019. The woman left her mentally ill husband and started living with her lover Shishupalan. During this whole time, Shishupalan brutally raped the child multiple times and she suffered serious injuries too.
The girl, who was 7 at that time, reported the incident to her mother but she didn’t pay heed to her complaints. Instead, she let the perpetrator rape the child in her presence and asked her to keep it a secret. Shishupalan used to molest the elder daughter too whenever she used to visit them.
Both the victims didn’t tell anybody about the assault as the perpetrator used to threaten them. The 11-year victim’s father is the mentally ill husband while the younger daughter’s father was some other man.
The incident came to light when an 11-year-old elder daughter fled the house with her younger step-sister. They went to their paternal grandmother and narrated their ordeal. The grandmother asked the woman to leave Shishupalan. However, she refused to do so. She later left him and moved in with another man. Her second lover also molested the younger child with the mother’s permission.
The grandmother reported the incident to the police and shifted the girls to the children’s home. The victims disclosed all the details during counseling sessions. Shishupalan committed suicide during the trial.
