Aligarh: POCSO Court sentenced Mohammad Hassan to 20 years in jail for raping his 13-year-old adoptive daughter

On May 15, an Aligarh court sentenced Mohammad Hassan to 20 years imprisonment for raping his 13-year-old adopted daughter in October 2022.

It was reported that Hassan adopted the victim when she was about three years old from a brick kiln in Ahmedabad, from a Hindu labourer and the victim was renamed thereafter.

He was raping the minor victim for about a year. On October 25, 2022, Hassan’s daughter-in-law caught him sexually abusing the minor victim in their house, who later informed the locals.

Thereafter, a social worker in Quarsi, Mohit Chauhan, lodged a complaint against Hassan after receiving the information and Hassan was arrested.

Hassan was booked u/s 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on October 26, 2022.

The Additional District Judge, Special POCSO Court in Aligarh, Surendra Mohan Sahay sentenced the 50-year-old rapist to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a Rs 50,000 fine on May 15.

The court directed that out of Rs 50,000 fine, the minor victim be given Rs 40,000. It is pertinent to note that the chargesheet against Mohammad Hassan was filed on April 4 and he was convicted on May 15, thereby ensuring a speedy trial for the victim. The minor victim was sent to a woman’s shelter after Hassan’s conviction.

Furthermore, the Government Counsel Mahesh Singh said that Mohammad Hassan failed to produce documentary evidence establishing that he adopted the minor girl. The police tried to find the minor victim’s family but failed to do so.

He said, “No document was produced before the court to establish when and how the convict adopted the girl. In her statement, the victim admitted that the convict had adopted her around five years ago and since then she was staying with his family in Aligarh. On the girl’s information, police tried to trace her family but failed.”

He also said that the court added a charge u/s 376 (rape) of the IPC considering the minor victim’s statement. Hassan was acquitted u/s 354 of the IPC, however, the court sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment u/s 376 of the IPC. “The court sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment on the rape charge and acquitted him under IPC section 354,” he said.