A woman in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram was sentenced to 40 years and 6 months of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 20,000, for helping her live-in partner rape her daughter, who was then seven years old.

The Thiruvananthapuram Fast Track Special Court Judge R Rekha also slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on the accused. The woman will be jailed for an additional 6 months if the fine is not paid. The court has directed that the Legal Services Authority to pay the compensation.

“Should the accused fail to pay the fine, an additional six months of imprisonment will be enforced”, the court said.

The incident happened between March 2018 and September 2019, during which the convict, separated from her mentally ill husband, was living with her male friend, Shishupalan, the prime accused in the case. The woman’s younger daughter, who was 7 at the time, also lived with the couple.

The court found that Shishupalan raped the girl, resulting in injuries to her private parts. Shockingly, the girl was sexually assaulted by Shishupalan several times with the connivance of her mother during 2018 and 2019.

The victim’s 11-year-old step-sister was also sexually assaulted by the accused.

The incident came to light when the 11-year-old fled the house with the younger child and informed her paternal grandmother about the incident. Though the grandmother asked the children’s mother to leave Sisupalan, she refused to do so at the time. The woman later left Sisupalan and moved in with another man. The new partner also molested the younger child with the mother’s permission.

Following this, the grandmother informed the authorities about the sexual assault and shifted the girls to a children’s home. The children disclosed the details of the assault during the counselling held there.

As the first accused Sishpalan committed suicide during the trial, it was held only against the mother. The children are currently living in a children’s home.