Indian Couple in their 80s jailed for Sexual Assault on 4-year-old

An Indian couple in their 80s have been jailed for sexually assaulting their neighbour when she was four-years-old.

The girl previously referred to them as ‘dada’ and ‘dadi’.

The couple from Maharashtra will each serve a ten-year jail sentence and must pay the child Rs. 50,000 (£490) each in compensation within a month.

The court used medical evidence and testimonies from the child and her mother to make a conviction.

The sentence comes under section six of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which prescribes punishment for “aggravated penetrative sexual assault”.

This is possibly the first case in Maharashtra where a woman is found guilty of such an offence.

The sentence was given by Judge Rekha Pandhare of the court of the POCSO Act.

Judge Pandhare observed that the couple were supposed to have taken care of the young girl, as she was their neighbour.

The couple were also around the same age as the victim’s own grandparents.

The horrific incident dates back to September 2013, after the four-year-old made a statement to the police.

After returning from school on September 4, 2013, she went to the fourth floor of her building to play with a friend.

According to the victim, she made her way home as her friend was sleeping. Then, the elderly couple called her.

In the child’s statement, when she approached the accused man, aged 87, he carried her inside the house and slapped her after she tried to leave.

The man then began to sexually assault her. She was held by his 81-year-old wife, who allegedly repeated the act.

Whenever the girl tried to leave, she was spat at.

Eventually managing to run home, the victim told her mother what had happened when she put her to bed.

According to her mother’s statement, she noticed inflammation after checking her daughter’s private parts.

She then informed her husband before making a complaint to the police.

The elderly Indian couple was arrested the next day.

Indian minors are frequent victims of sexual assault. In some cases, the act is performed by people they know.

In March 2021, a 13-year-old Indian boy was allegedly sexually assaulted by two minors in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the child’s father, the two minors were known to his family.

The two accused minors were later put before the Juvenile Justice Board.