M A I N   N E W S

Man abuses daughter, gets life term
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, November 18
In a bizarre incident shocking the conscience of the Supreme Court and putting society to shame, the apex court has awarded the maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment to a father for sexually exploiting his own minor child at the servant quarters of the Himachal Pradesh Raj Bhavan 17 years ago.

By its judgment, the apex court reversed the Himachal Pradesh High Court order acquitting Asha Ram of Dumhar village of Arki tehsil in Solan district saying the acquittal order was “perverse and against all cannons of justice.” The Sessions Court had sentenced him to five years in jail.

Describing the offence of Asha Ram as “graver and heinous” that has “shocked the judicial conscience”, a Bench of Mr Justice H.K. Sema and Mr Justice P.P. Naolekar said “we alter and enhance the sentence from five years of rigorous imprisonment to life imprisonment.”

The court also enhanced the fine slapped on him from Rs 1,000 to Rs 25,000, ordering that the money should go to the victim.

Allowing the appeal of the state government seeking severest possible punishment to Asha Ram, now a 78-year-old man and on bail, the court ordered that he should be taken into custody and sent to jail immediately.

Seeking a compliance report from Himachal Pradesh’s Additional Advocate J.S. Attri within a month, the court cancelled his bail bond and surety.

Taking serious view of the High Court acquitting the accused of the offence, which was proved in the trial court, the Bench said “the fortress of trust and refuge” of a daughter was betrayed by none other than her father.

“We record our displeasure and dismay at the casual way the High Court dealt with the offence so grave, overlooking the alarming and shocking increase of sexual assault on minor girls. The High Court was swayed by sheer insensitivity totally oblivious of growing menace of sex violence against minors much less by the father,” the Bench in a strongly-worded judgment observed.

“The High Court also totally overlooked the prosecution evidence, which inspired confidence and merited acceptance” for maximum punishment for such a pervert act by a man. The girl, subjected to sexual assault by the father, was barely 12 years old when the crime was committed on the night of August 23 after he had returned to his home in the Raj Bhavan servants quarters late at night and she had gone to his room to serve food. .

The victim along with her sister was staying with the father, who had strained relations with his wife and staying separately in another servant quarter complex some distance away with two sons and another daughter, according to the prosecution case.

The shocked sisters had returned to their mother and narrated the incident to her, who took the victim to police station next morning to lodge a complaint.

In the Sessions trial, the girl had firmly stood by her allegation against her father, which was corroborated by the medical report of the doctor who had examined her and the evidence of her sister. Basing his finding on this, the trial judge had found him guilty but awarded him only five years of imprisonment.