Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Ludhiana horror: Sexually abused by father, victim says was scared of returning home

- Deepa Sharma Sood deepa.sharma@hindustant­imes.com ■

LUDHIANA: Tears rolled down the eyes of the 14-year-old girl while narrating her ordeal of having suffering years-long sexual assault at the hands of her father.

The accused (41), a factory worker, was arrested on Tuesday after the victim informed her school principal about her ordeal. The girl, a Class-8 student, said she decided to speak up against the abuse after her father started sexually abusing her 10-year-old younger sister. She says her father used to sexually abuse her after she returned from school or whenever she had a school holiday.

“When I with my sister reach home from school at 3pm, he also arrives and takes me to another room only to abuse me for hours. Then he gives me ₹50 and ₹100 every time and asks me to keep mum,” she said.

‘I DECIDED TO SAVE MY sister from torture’

“I decided to save my sister from the torture which I underwent for at least four years. People say girls are more attached to their fathers but we are scared of him,” said the 14-year-old.

The 10-year-old, a Class-5 student, said she was assaulted for the first time on January 26 and her father asked her to apply ointment on his back but when she refused he locked her in the room.

She said, “I was home as my sister had gone to the Guru Nanak Stadium for the January 26 celebratio­ns. He sexually abused me for 15-20 minutes and then allowed me to move out.”

‘MY MOTHER KNEW about abuse’

The 14-year-old had said she had told their mother knew about the abuse but she did not do anything. The accused’s wife, also a factory worker, said, “My daughter told me that their father teases her and I started keeping an eye but I never felt that my husband is doing something wrong with them. I leave home at 8am and return around 7pm.”

Sahnewal police on Wednesday took both the victims to the civil hospital for medical examinatio­n and they were produced in a local court .

Judicial magistrate Manpreet Kaur recorded their statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) and handed the victims to their mother. The two girls were sent to a welfare shelter on Tuesday after their father was arrested.

The matter was taken up with the legal authoritie­s after the principal contacted the local child line director and police.

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