Kolkata, June 6 (IANS) A special court at Jangipur in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Friday sentenced a man, convicted of raping his minor daughter, to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
The court also imposed a financial penalty of Rs 1,00,000 on the convict. In the event of non-payment of the penalty amount, his imprisonment term will be extended by one more year.
At the same time, the judge of the special court directed the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 to the victim.
The convict is Bablu Sheikh, who was arrested in 2017 following complaints filed against him by his wife Sajera Biwi accusing him of raping their own daughter, who was 15 years old then.
Sajera Biwi, in her complaint, said that her husband raped their minor not once, but several times, following which the daughter became sick. The complaint was filed on June 14, 2017, and on the same day, Bablu Sheikh was arrested.
A prolonged trial process continued for the next few years, and the statements of 12 witnesses were recorded. The public prosecutors sought life imprisonment for the convict. However, on Friday, the judge of the special court remanded him to seven years of imprisonment.
During the trial process in the matter, Sajera Biwi turned into a hostile witness and even attempted to change the statement that she recorded with the police while filing the complaint to save her husband.
However, the victim stuck to her statement till the end and continued accusing her father of the heinous crime.
West Bengal had been in the national headlines frequently during the last few months over cases of rape and rape and murder in different pockets of the state, with the victims being minors in many such cases.
The most talked-about case in the matter was that of the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital within the hospital premises in August last year.
–IANS
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