New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS): The Delhi High Court has declined any leniency to a man earlier punished with life in prison for raping his minor daughter, saying he could pose a threat not only to his victim, but also his other daughter, if released.
A division bench of Justice P.K. Bhasin and Justice V.P. Vaish, upholding the trial court order which awarded Ram Dhawan the life sentence for raping his 14-year-old daughter in 2005, said: “There cannot be a closer relationship than that of father and daughter” and the act is a “betrayal of trust”.
The bench, in a judgment passed recently, said: “We are not inclined to reduce the sentence of imprisonment. The appellant (Dhawan) herein had made his own young daughter a victim of his animal lust and sexual perversion and that fact by itself disentitles him to claim any clemency or reprieve from this court."
“Another factor which has to be kept in mind is that if the appellant comes out of jail he can repeat the same acts not only with the prosecutrix (victim) but his other daughter also,” the court said, dismissing Dhawan's appeal against the trial court's Sep 26, 2008 order.
Dhawan had moved the high court saying he was falsely implicated in the case at the instance of his wife, as they had a strained relationship, and his wife was not living with him.
The prosecution said the victim, who was living with her father, brothers and a sister, was raped by Dhawan in September 2005.
When her mother came to visit her, the victim narrated the incident to her. The mother then lodged a complaint with the police.
Dhawan also said that there is no real corroboration of the testimony of the victim, and so the trial court was not justified in convicting him.
However, the court declined his submissions, saying: “It is now too well settled that the testimony of a victim of rape can by itself be made the basis of conviction, unless some serious flaws in her testimony are pointed out.”
The accused later urged the court to reduce the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to him, which too the court refused.