A Kerala court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a 66-year-old man to a cumulative 72 years of imprisonment for repeatedly raping his daughter for four years.

Special public prosecutor Shijomon Joseph said the Idukki Fast Track Special Court judge Laijumol Sheriff sentenced the accused to varying jail terms for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the IPC for a total of 72 years.

The convict will, however, serve 20 years in jail. All the sentences will be served concurrently.

The 20-year term was the highest jail term given by the judge.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹1.8 lakh on the convict and said that if he paid it, the amount would be given to the victim, reported PTI.

The victim was raped between the ages of 10 to 14 years when she used to come to her home in Vagamon village from her school hostel during vacations.

The crime took place between 2012 and 2016. However, she complained in 2020.

The prosecution told the court that the girl did not report the crime because she feared that he would kill her if she disclosed the sexual assaults to anyone. Her father had already been in jail for a murder, reported PTI.

She revealed the crime to the police after her father’s friend, who used to help her study, encouraged her to do so.

The SPP also said that the girl had a habit of writing down the bad experiences she had suffered from her father on pieces of paper and keeping them under her bed. These notes were found by the police at the crime scene and helped the prosecution.

With inputs from PTI