Thiruvananthapuram: A Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) on Wednesday sentenced a man to double life imprisonment for the repeated sexual assault of the minor granddaughter of his live-in partner. Judge Rekha R also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on the 68-year-old accused.

According to the prosecution, the man sexually assaulted the then-six-year-old girl and her elder sister – who was nine years old – on various occasions from September 2020 to November 2021 at their grandmother's rented homes in Varikkamukku and Murukkumpuzha here.

The court, in its order on sentence, noted that the survivor and her elder sister were in an institutional home due to the heinous crime committed against them by the accused. It further said that he "shattered their childhood" and "put them in extreme miseries and deplorable conditions while their mother was abroad".

"Due to the heinous crime committed by the accused, the children lost the company of their grandmother. Considering the loathsome acts committed by the accused to the survivor, who was in her tender age, the age of the accused cannot be considered as a mitigating factor. This court is of the firm view that the iron hands of law should bind the accused, and maximum punishment should be handed down to deter potential offenders from committing similar offences and to give a strong message to society," it said.

The court directed that if the amount was recovered from the convict, it shall be paid as compensation to the survivor. It also said that the life terms shall run concurrently. The prosecutor said that besides the sexual assaults on the minors, the man had also shown them pornographic videos on various days during the same period. Their mother was abroad during this period, the prosecutor said. The court will pronounce on November 5 its separate verdict in the case of sexual assault of the elder child by the accused, PTI reported.