Kalyan court gives watchman life term till death for repeated abuse of 10-year-old girl

A special court in Kalyan in Thane district has sentenced a 65-year-old man to life imprisonment until death in a case of repeated abuse of a 10-year-old girl over three years, which also left her pregnant. Special Judge Laxmikant A. Bidwai delivered the verdict on Friday, November 6.

The convict, Uttam Nikalje, had worked as a watchman in a residential society. The judge observed that he committed the crime "in cold blood, over years". The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him. It further recommended that financial compensation be paid to the victim, who suffered mental trauma.

According to the prosecution, the accused worked in the housing society where the girl lived. The abuse began in the summer of 2017. The prosecution said the accused would lure the girl with chocolates to the terrace of the building and repeatedly subject her to serious sexual abuse there. He is also alleged to have threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone.

According to the complaint, the matter came to light on February 20, 2020. That day, waste collection workers found a dead infant wrapped in black cloth near a garbage bin. A case was then registered. The investigation found that the girl had severe stomach pain and was taken to a clinic and later to a diagnostic centre, where she had a natural miscarriage.

The girl later told her parents what she had gone through. A case was then registered against the accused under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

During the trial, the court noted that the accused had committed the crime in cold blood over years. While passing sentence, the court also took into account that the accused had fallen seriously ill while an undertrial prisoner and had to be admitted to hospital.

The court said, "This case is not one of the rarest of rare, so the death penalty is not appropriate. In these circumstances, it will be just and proper to sentence the accused to life imprisonment with rigorous imprisonment. I clarify that under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, life imprisonment means imprisonment for the remainder of the accused's natural life."