TORONTO: An elderly Sikh priest, abetted by his wife, was found guilty of sexually abusing his niece for over a decade and ordered to pay a whopping $415,000 in damages by a Canadian court.
Joginder Singh Bains and his wife Darshan had denied involvement in sexually assaulting their niece Karamjeet Kaur after she moved to their house following her mother's death in an accident 42 years ago, but British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver found them guilty.
The assaults began when Karamjeet, who is now 50, was eight years old and took place over a period of 10 years.
Judge Nancy Morrison found that Darshan knew what was happening and wanted to ensure "there would be no pregnancy or discovery of on-going abuse."
"The young plaintiff was present in their (Bains) home, slept in their bedroom and at times in their bed with them, when sexual assaults took place," she observed on Thursday.
Karamjeet, now a mother of two and known as Vicki Waters after her marriage, "was denied aid by her aunt, her father's younger sister to whom she turned to for help on two occasions. This child was vulnerable as she had recently lost her mother in a tragic accident," Morrison said.
Karamjeet told the court how she had pleaded for help from her aunt and a grandmother after Bains, who is now 77, began sexually assaulting her, but her pleas went unanswered.
Darshan collaborated to have an IUD, a form of birth control, inserted into Karamjeet when she reached puberty, which the judge said proved she knew about the sexual abuse.
The judge dismissed the defence's argument that damages totalling $70,000 be assessed as the Bains couple had lost face in the community, nor did she accept that they were of modest means. Damages were assessed at $325,000 for general and aggravated damages, 80,000 dollars in punitive damages and $10,000 for future care.
