Malappuram: A POCSO court in Manjeri has sentenced a 46-year-old man to 178 years in prison for repeatedly raping his 11-year-old daughter in Areekode.

The conviction covers multiple offences under the POCSO Act and the Indian Penal Code, though the sentences will run concurrently, limiting his actual imprisonment to 40 years of rigorous imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the assaults occurred between January 2022 and January 2023, during which the child was assaulted three times.

The accused had allegedly threatened to kill the girl if she revealed the abuse, which led to a prolonged period of silence.

Public Prosecutor Adv. Somasundaram told the court that the survivor first disclosed the assaults during a school session on good touch and bad touch. Before this, the child’s teacher had noticed bleeding and alerted her mother. The family initially believed the bleeding was due to menstruation, but medical examination raised further suspicion. The child later confided in her teacher, who passed on the information to the Areekode police, prompting a formal investigation.

The court noted that the father had “betrayed his duty to protect the child” and held that the brutality of the offences left no room for leniency. The accused was already serving a sentence in a separate rape case involving a disabled neighbour, and committed the assault on his daughter while out on bail.

He received 120 years under Sections 5M, 5N, and 5L of the POCSO Act, in addition to other IPC provisions, cumulatively amounting to 178 years of rigorous imprisonment.