The Supreme Court has delivered a searing judgment against a father who repeatedly raped his ten-year-old daughter, declaring that incestuous sexual violence by a parent demands the harshest punishment the law can muster.
Upholding his life sentence under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, the Court also ordered the Himachal Pradesh Legal Services Authority to pay the now-adult survivor ₹10.5 lakh in compensation.
From the very outset, the bench denounced the act as “an unspeakable betrayal of trust by none other than the father of the victim.” The defence’s claim of false implication due to strained domestic relations was brushed aside, with the Court remarking that no child would fabricate such allegations merely to escape household discipline.
The judges were unequivocal — incestuous offences are a separate class of depravity, corroding the very core of family trust, and must meet with “the severest condemnation and deterrent punishment.” Quoting an ancient verse — “Where women are honoured, divinity flourishes; where they are dishonoured, all acts become fruitless” — the Court underscored that the dignity of women is not a matter for negotiation, but a constitutional imperative.
“When a father, the very figure meant to protect, becomes the source of such profound violation, the betrayal is not only personal but shakes the institutional foundation of family itself,” the judgment declared. The home, it said, must never be allowed to turn into a site of unspeakable trauma.
Leniency, the Court stressed, would amount to betraying its constitutional duty to safeguard the vulnerable. Justice, in such cases, must be resolute, uncompromising, and backed by sentences that reflect the gravity of the crime.
In awarding compensation alongside the sentence, the Court reaffirmed that justice is not merely about conviction — it is also about restitution, compassion, and ensuring survivors reclaim their dignity. The father’s appeal was dismissed in its entirety.
