The Delhi High Court Monday upheld the life sentence awarded to a father for enabling sexual assault upon her daughter and said that sexual crimes within a father-daughter relationship descend to depravity and must be dealt with the requisite level of severity. A bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul stated that crime within the closest confines of the family has the element of sin and to sexually violate an innocent child, in any case, is an abhorrent act.
The bench, also comprising Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, observed that the offending acts committed by the prosecutrix's so-called uncle, with the connivance of her own father, went beyond the physical element of sexual assault and caused trauma that might linger for very long. It added that it was evident from the prosecutrix's stand that her father consciously and intentionally gave to the so-called uncle, a co-convict, access to her and also committed upon her acts short of 'digital penetration'.
This, in our view, is sufficient to bring the actions of the father within section 34 IPC, namely the acts done by him in furtherance of a common intention to commit the offence, and would make him liable for all acts committed by appellant A2 (uncle) in the same manner as if the acts were done by appellant A1 (father) himself, the court said as it upheld the conviction of the father under section 377 (unnatural offences) read with section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and the sentence of life imprisonment. We do not hesitate to repeat, to sexually violate an innocent child is, in any case, an abhorrent act; but, when that happens within the filial father-daughter relationship, of which purity of affection is a sine-qua-non, the act descends to a different depth of depravity. Without at all appearing to be Biblical, crime in society is one thing; but crime within the closest confines of the family, adds to it the element of sin. Such acts must be dealt, with the requisite level of severity, the court said.
The court also upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of the co-convict uncle under section 377 read with section 34 IPC. Considering the depravity of the acts committed against the prosecutrix by a so-called uncle, with the connivance of her own father, we are also of the view that the offending acts go way beyond the physical element of sexual assault but would have severely damaged the mind and psyche of the victim, which trauma may linger for very long, the court said.
We accordingly uphold the judgment of conviction dated 09.10.2019 to the extent that appellant A1 and appellant A2 are both guilty of the offence under section 377 read with section 34 IPC We accordingly also uphold the sentencing order dated 18.10.2019 to the extent that the learned trial court has sentenced the appellants to imprisonment for life for the offence under section 377 read with section 34 IPC along with fine of Rs.10,000/- each, with simple imprisonment of 06 months in default of payment of fine; and also granting the benefit of section 428 CrPC, it ordered. The court refused to sustain the conviction for the alleged commission of an offence under Section 376(2)(g) (gang rape) IPC.
The father and the uncle, who had appealed against their conviction and sentencing by the trial court, were found guilty on the basis of the depositions of the several prosecution witnesses, in particular the prosecutrix's own testimony and the medical evidence.
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