Man gets 120-year jail term for abusing minor stepdaughters

The Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court at Manjeri sentenced a 50-year-old man to 120 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹90,000 for sexually abusing his 11- and 12-year-old stepdaughters.Judge K.S. Varun awarded 60 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a ₹45,000 fine in each of the two cases. If the fine is not paid, he will serve an additional three months in each case.The accused lived in a rented house at Kondotty with the children’s mother and her five children. He abused the 12-year-old from September 2023 and the 11-year-old from March 2025, when the children returned home from the orphanage during holidays.Their elder sister had left home earlier, reportedly fearing the abuse. During the 2025 summer vacation, the elder sister took the children to the