PATHANAMTHITTA: A court has sentenced a 51-year-old man to 78 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 275000 for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old daughter after taking her to a relative's house. It was the Pathanamthitta POCSO Court that announced the sentence. The accused will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment for an additional three and a half years if he fails to pay the fine.

The girl's mother had already left the house due to the accused's drinking and harassment. Following this, the girl was staying at home with her father's mother and elder sisters. The father used to sexually assault his daughter from the time she was studying in class 8.

The police had registered a case on the complaint that the accused took his daughter to a relative's house and raped her. He also inflicted injury on the daughter's cheek when she objected to the sexual abuse. When the girl returned home the next day, the girl's paternal sister became suspicious upon seeing the wound on her cheek. Following this, she informed the girl's teachers. The teachers soon found that the child was sexually assaulted by her father.

Although a sister of the girl and the mother of the accused defected during the trial, other evidence and the statement of the relatives proved decisive in the case.