Kerala Man sentenced to cumulative 51yrs imprisonment for rape of minor stepdaughter
Idukki (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a 40-year-old man to a cumulative 51 years imprisonment for the rape of his then 17-year-old stepdaughter in 2018 at their residence in Munnar here.
Devikulam Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) judge Sirajudheen P A sentenced the accused to varying jail terms for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the IPC for a total of 51 years, special public prosecutor (SPP) Smiju K Das said.
However, the man will serve 20 years in prison as sentences have to be served concurrently and that was the highest jail term announced by the judge, the SPP said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.55 lakh on the convict which shall be given to the victim, the prosecutor said.
The court also recommended compensation to be provided to the victim as per the Victim Compensation Scheme and give a direction for the same to the District Legal Services Authority, Idukki-Thodupuzha, the SPP said.
The girl was raped on three separate days in November 2018 when the victim's mother was not at home, the prosecutor said.
The stepfather, who was 34-years-old at the time of the incident, had also intimidated the victim by threatening to kill her and her mother if she disclosed to anybody about the crime, the SPP said.
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
