Fugitive Father Arrested After 11 Months for Raping and Impregnating Teen Daughter in Assam

A case was filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the perpetrator.

Guwahati:

Police in Assam's Cachar district have apprehended a man who had been evading authorities for 11 months after allegedly raping and impregnating his 16-year-old daughter, according to sources who spoke with NDTV.

Though the assault occurred in 2022, the case only came to light in January this year when the teenage victim filed a complaint. In her statement, she accused her 41-year-old father of sexual assault and threatening her life if she revealed the abuse to anyone.

The official complaint details that the girl endured multiple instances of sexual assault by her father. The abuse resulted in her pregnancy three years ago.

When her health severely deteriorated around seven months into the pregnancy, the teenager confided in her aunt. Upon confronting the accused, the relative was allegedly instructed to take the girl to a doctor, after which the father sent his daughter to stay with relatives in Silchar.

Several weeks later, the victim delivered a baby girl who remained temporarily in the relatives' care.

During this period, the accused father remarried, and reportedly, his new wife refused to allow the victim to return to their home.

According to police reports, the traumatized girl once attempted suicide but stopped herself when thinking about her newborn child. Later, she boarded a train to Guwahati where she fell ill and was rescued by Railway Police. Authorities subsequently transferred her to a government-recognized shelter home in Silchar.

Two years after the incident, on January 18 this year, the girl, with assistance from the Child Helpline, formally registered a complaint against her father. In her statement, she revealed that her father had threatened to kill her younger brother if she ever disclosed the sexual assaults.

Authorities registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

After evading capture for 11 months, law enforcement finally apprehended the accused on Monday night.

Following his arrest, the accused father appeared before a court on Tuesday and was remanded to judicial custody.