Setting a precedent of speedy justice and creating history as one of the fastest-ever rape trials in the country, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Raj Shekhar Attri has convicted a labourer for the rape of his minor stepdaughter. The conviction comes in just four hearings since the framing of charges by the court and within five months since the registration of the case. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on March 13.

Accused Chander Pal was arrested on October 4, 2008. The 31-year-old resident of Rajiv Shahpur Colony in Sector 38 West had been sexually exploiting his stepdaughter, aged around 15 years, for the last four years. The girl was six months pregnant when the case was registered and is now the mother of a girl child. She is in Nari Niketan at present.

Chander Pal was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by a neighbour.

The accused had married the victim’s mother, Sarita, 11 years ago. The girl was then three years old. Sarita committed suicide after sometime when she got to know about Chander Pal’s alleged affair, the police had said.

Throughout the proceedings of the case, the girl stood by the prosecution. To ensure a fast-track trial, the case had been heard on a daily basis since March 4. The prosecution produced 10 witnesses to prove its case.

In his defence, the accused told the court that he was the father of the victim and that she was not his stepdaughter. He claimed to have had relations with Sarita when she was married to her first husband. Pleading innocence, he said a father could not rape his daughter.

The DNA of the victim’s child, however, matched his, leading to Chander Pal’s conviction on Tuesday.