The Delhi High Court has upheld a trial court's conviction of a man for raping his minor stepdaughter, emphasizing the profound trauma inflicted on the victim. In a judgment delivered on April 21, Justice Vimal Kumar Yadav stated that terms like 'tragic' or 'unfortunate' fail to capture the severity of the victim's experience. The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The incident, reported in 2014, occurred while the victim's mother was hospitalized. The perpetrator exploited her absence to assault the victim and also attempted to molest her younger sister. Despite the man's claims of being falsely accused, the court found the victim's testimony credible and noted that inconsistencies raised by the defense were not significant. The court also highlighted the man's actions, such as insisting on bringing the victim home from the hospital against her mother's wishes, as incriminating evidence.