THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A deputy tehsildar who sexually abused his 10-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 17 years rigorous imprisonment under various charges. Thiruvananthapuram Principal POCSO Court Judge KV Rajneesh has ordered to pay a fine of Rs 16.5 lakh to the child and two more years of imprisonment if he does not pay the fine.

In 2019, the child's mother died. After this, the child sleeps with the father. During this time, he hugged the child, kissed her on the lips and touched her private parts. The class teacher of the child who noticed the silent behaviour of the girl enquired about this. The girl told the teacher about the physical abuse from the father. After the teacher informed the headmistress and the school councilor, a case was registered by the the Pangode police and Crime branch deputy superintendent A Pramod Kumar investigated the case and filed a chargesheet.

The court ruled that abusing the child by own father who was supposed to take care of her was a heinous crime and that the defendant did not deserve any mercy. The court also directed the government to pay compensation to the child legally. In the incident, 19 witnesses from the prosecution side were examined and 21 documents were produced as evidence.