Man gets 5 years in jail for exploiting stepdaughter

As per the case, the mother of the child after her husband’s death in 2009 had married Allen Christudoss, whom she had known for long in 2010. He had told her that he was a divorcee but later found that his first marriage to one Parimala was intact. However, she along with her daughter continued to life with him. Subsequently, her daughter informed that she was being sexually harassed by Allen and that he had caused physical injuries. But when she raised the issue with her husband, she was attacked by Allen. Based on this, a complaint was lodged at the Villivakam Women Police Station in May 2014, who registered a case against him under POCSO Act.

Sessions Judge R Kalaimathi, who heard the case, held that the acts complained against the accused clearly comes under the caption of sexual assault and the charge as per Section 10 of POCSO Act stands proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Sentencing him to undergo five years in jail, the judge also held: “It is clearly an act of gross indecency. Accused is not a young man. He is not morally entitled to any leniency and should be dealt with an iron hand as opined by the Supreme Court.” 

The judge also directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the child victim after the expiry of the appeal time from the Victims Compensation Fund or another scheme as per the Rule 7 (4) of POCSO Act.