A city court handed down life imprisonment to a 50-year-old man after observing that he committed a “diabolic and barbaric” crime by sexually assaulting his minor niece, allowing others to gangrape her and forcing her into prostitution.
Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat convicted Uttar Pradesh resident Pannu for six offences — rape, gangrape, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement and procuring the girl for prostitution.
The court observed that the said crime committed by the convict was “abhorrent, diabolic and barbaric.” It said he had brought the minor from her village after her father’s death on the assurance that he would take care of her, but he ill-treated her and made her “prey of his sexual lust”.
“He did not stop at that, but made her consume liquor forcibly and then do nude dance, after which she was gangraped by the convict and his associates. Even after this, the convict had no mercy for the minor girl and forced her into prostitution,” the judge said.
Pannu was sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for conspiracy, 10 years’ jail for rape, 14 years’ for immoral trafficking and life term, saying the sentences would not run concurrently.
“The convict had been doing all this with the tacit approval of his wife,” the judge said.
The employer of the girl made a complaint to National Human Rights Commission after she told her that Pannu used to sexually abuse her and his wife was party to it. The police lodged a case against the accused.
The girl told the court that after the death of her father, her uncle Pannu and aunt had brought her to Delhi to look after her in 2003 as her mother had left earlier. For some time, Pannu kept her properly but then raped her and used to send her with other persons for prostitution.