MUMBAI: A special court in Mumbai has convicted a 40-year-old man for sexually assaulting his five-year-old daughter. Rejecting the claim of the accused that there was no skin to skin contact, the court sentenced the accused to five years in prison. The court issued the verdict on a complaint filed by the child's mother.

The man, who was arrested in a POCSO case, was convicted on April 12. A copy of the verdict was published last Sunday. Special Judge HC Shende termed astonishing the argument put forth by the accused man's lawyer that the victim never said that her father touched her private part with his finger. The court further said that the accused in the present case was the father of the victim and hence the plea of mercy made by him to show leniency was misplaced and would be a “travesty of justice”.