In a significant development, a Kerala Fast Track Court sentenced a woman to 40 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a ₹20,000 fine in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case on Monday. The distressing incident occurred between March 2018 and September 2019, involving the accused, who had left her mentally ill husband to live with her lover, Shishupalan. Shockingly, Shishupalan brutally abused the child numerous times, causing injuries to the child’s private parts.
Compounding the horror, the mother not only witnessed these assaults but took the child to Shishupalan’s house, where the abuse occurred. The child’s elder sister, upon learning of the abuse, bravely escaped with the victim and sought refuge at their grandmother’s house. It was there that the truth emerged during counseling, prompting the grandmother to move the children to a children’s home.
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RS Vijay Mohan, the Special Public Prosecutor, revealed that the mother received a 40-year sentence and a ₹20,000 penalty for her role in the egregious offense. The victims, both daughters of the accused, suffered sexual and brutal abuse at the hands of the accused’s lovers. The first lover, Shishupalan, began abusing one of the girls at the tender age of seven, with the accused turning a blind eye and even facilitating the abuse by the second lover. Tragically, Shishupalan committed suicide during the trial, resulting in the proceedings focusing solely on the mother.
Judge R Rekha, presiding over the case, deemed the accused “an entire shame to motherhood” and justified the maximum sentence. The children, now residing in a children’s home, played a pivotal role in revealing the horrifying details during the trial, where twenty-two witnesses were examined, and thirty-three documents were submitted.
