A Sikh priest and his wife have been ordered by a Canadian court to pay their niece $415,000 for sexually abusing her for over a decade while she was living in their house after the death of her mother.
The elderly couple Joginder Singh Bains and his wife Darshan denied involvement in sexually assaulting their niece Karamjeet Kaur, who is now 50 and known as Vicki Waters after her marriage, in a civil action suit last year, but the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver found them guilty.
The assaults began when Karamjeet, now a mother of two, 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 home, slept in their bedroom and at times in their bed with them, when sexual assaults took place," she observed. "She 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," said Morrison in her written statement.
Karamjeet told the court how she had pleaded for help from her aunt and a grandmother after Bains, 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 totaling $70,000 be assessed as the Bains 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 dollars for future care.
