How a casual call from abroad helped uncover child sexual abuse in Tamil Nadu and led to 20-year jail sentence for father

CHENNAI: A casual phone call from her aunt abroad exposed the sexual abuse a young girl in Chennai had been facing and last week a trial court sentenced her father to 20 years in jail.
In April 2018, while the then five-year-old girl’s mother was away at work, her father sexually abused the child while helping her bathe.

Initial complaints by the child led to frequent fights between the parents, prompting her to remain silent to avoid further discord. However, her mother later realised that the abuse continued in her absence.
She sent the child to a relative’s house . There, a casual call from the mother’s elder sister changed everything.
During the conversation, the child told her aunt she was “finally happy” as she no longer faced “torture”. Alarmed, the aunt gently questioned her further, and the child narrated her ordeal at home. The aunt immediately flew down to Tamil Nadu, took the child to a hospital, and medical tests confirmed physical injuries.
APOCSO case was filed, and the father was arrested.
The girl had retracted statements
While the trial was on, the mother moved Madras high court in 2023 and secured custody of the child, even as the trial court denied the father bail citing the child’s testimony, according to special public prosecutor S Anitha.
Over the next year, the mother allegedly tutored the child to retract her earlier statements. Though the court allowed the girl weekly visits to her aunt, custody remained with the mother.
When the criminal case came up for hearing last week, the girl, who earlier detailed the abuse, stunned the court by claiming that “nothing happened”.
She said she wanted her family, including her father, to live together. Despite the child reversing her statement, the trial court relied on the medical evidence and her original statement. Judge M Rajalakshmi sentenced the father to 20 years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh.