India, Feb. 21 -- The sessions court has sentenced a 55-year-old Goregaon resident, suffering from AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), to 10 years of imprisonment for raping his minor stepdaughter. The court showed leniency by handing him the minimum sentence as his other daughter is also suffering from the disease and there is no one to look after her.

Additional sessions judge AA Kulkarni, in an order passed on February 14, said that the testimony of the survivor as well as the medial report established that the accused had committed rape on the minor girl.

However, after hearing the submission of the defence that the accused and his other daughter are patients of AIDS, the court took a lenient approach while sentencing him.

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