As the first accused, Sisupalan, died by suicide during the course of the hearings, only the mother was put on trial.
Published Nov 27, 2023 | 7:02 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 27, 2023 | 7:03 PM
Court sentences mother to 40 years imprisonment for allowing lover to rape her children. (Creative Commons)
A fast-track special court in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, 27 November, sentenced a woman to 40 years and six months of rigorous imprisonment for permitting her live-in partner to sexually assault her seven-year-old daughter.
She will also have to pay a fine of ₹20,000 as additional punishment. If the fine is not paid, the woman would be sentenced to a further six months in prison, according to the verdict given by special court judge R Rekha.
The court has also ordered the state legal services authority to adequately compensate the girl in order to secure her future by supporting her educational advancement.
The prosecution proved in court that the girl was raped multiple times by her mother’s partner between March 2018 and September 2019.
At the time, the accused woman, who had just divorced her mentally handicapped husband, was living with her lover Sisupalan.
The woman’s younger daughter, who was seven years old at the time, also resided with them.
It was proved in court that Sisupalan brutally raped the child on several occasions with the mother’s consent.
Although the little girl complained to her mother that her private parts had been wounded, the woman ignored her and instructed the girl to keep it a secret.
Later, Sisupalan began sexually assaulting the child in the presence of the mother. He also raped the victim’s 11-year-old half-sister during a visit to the house.
Sisupalan threatened the children in order to keep the incident hidden.
While the woman’s mentally handicapped husband was the father of the elder child, the father of the second child was another man.
The whole issue was revealed when the 11-year-old escaped the house with her half-sister and informed her paternal grandmother. Despite the grandmother’s request that the children’s mother leave Sisupalan, she refused. She continued living with him and took the younger daughter back.
The woman eventually left Sisupalan and moved in with another man. With the mother’s approval, the new partner also raped the seven-year-old child.
Following this, the grandmother reported the sexual assault to the Pallikal police and moved the daughters to a children’s home. The girls revealed the abuse during counselling.
As the first accused, Sisupalan, died by suicide during the course of the hearings, the trial was only brought against the mother. The children are currently being cared for in a children’s home in Thiruvananthapuram.
The prosecution was represented by Special Public Prosecutor RS Vijay Mohan and Advocate RY Akhilesh. Anil Kumar and Sreejith, inspectors at the Pallikal police station in Thiruvananthapuram, investigated the case.
The trial in the second sexual assault case is in progress in another court.
