NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to suspend the sentence of a cardiologist convicted of sexually assaulting his seven-year-old daughter, calling his actions "perverse" and stating he did not deserve any relief.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the plea, observing that the offence was committed while the accused was under the influence of alcohol, news agency PTI reported. "See the kind of things he has done to the child. You do not deserve any relief," the bench said. "He is a perverse guy, not entitled to any suspension. They were drunk," it said.
“You can’t do this to your own daughter. Why would a child testify against her father unless it were true? She’s a small girl who has withstood cross-examination. Man becomes a beast after drinking,” the court noted.
The defence argued that the child’s testimony was allegedly tutored and that a massive case backlog in the Allahabad High Court, with over 12 lakh pending cases, meant the doctor’s appeal would not be heard soon. The court, however, held that a delay in hearing an appeal could not justify suspending the sentence.
With no relief forthcoming, the doctor’s counsel withdrew the petition, and the plea was dismissed as withdrawn.
According to the FIR filed by the child's mother, the incident took place in 2018. The woman, who resides in Varanasi, had sent her daughter to visit her estranged husband in Haldwani, where he runs a nursing home. A week later, the doctor called the mother to pick up the child. Upon her return, the girl confided in her mother, calling her father a "bad man" and revealing he had engaged in bad touch.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the plea, observing that the offence was committed while the accused was under the influence of alcohol, news agency PTI reported. "See the kind of things he has done to the child. You do not deserve any relief," the bench said. "He is a perverse guy, not entitled to any suspension. They were drunk," it said.
“You can’t do this to your own daughter. Why would a child testify against her father unless it were true? She’s a small girl who has withstood cross-examination. Man becomes a beast after drinking,” the court noted.
The defence argued that the child’s testimony was allegedly tutored and that a massive case backlog in the Allahabad High Court, with over 12 lakh pending cases, meant the doctor’s appeal would not be heard soon. The court, however, held that a delay in hearing an appeal could not justify suspending the sentence.
With no relief forthcoming, the doctor’s counsel withdrew the petition, and the plea was dismissed as withdrawn.
According to the FIR filed by the child's mother, the incident took place in 2018. The woman, who resides in Varanasi, had sent her daughter to visit her estranged husband in Haldwani, where he runs a nursing home. A week later, the doctor called the mother to pick up the child. Upon her return, the girl confided in her mother, calling her father a "bad man" and revealing he had engaged in bad touch.
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