Bhubaneswar, May 10: A 14-year-old girl today approached the Odisha Human Rights Commission, demanding security for herself and her mother from her father.

The father is lodged in a jail in Puri for molesting his teenage daughter. He had also threatened to harm both her and her mother.

The girl said her father had been sexually assaulting her for the past one year.

Though the man was arrested earlier for molesting and torturing his wife, he started physically abusing both of them and sexually assaulted the daughter last month.

“On April 4, my father tried to rape me in our house. When my mother stopped him, he beat both of us and locked us up.

“We escaped somehow on April 11 and approached officials of Town police station. But they did not take any immediate step. After we met the superintendent of police on April 23, Town police arrested my father. But, he threatened in front of the police to take revenge on us,” said the girl, who is a Class X student at a local government high school.

The teenager said her father had threatened to kill her mother and marry her after he was released on bail.

Both mother and daughter said they wanted the accused to be kept behind bars for at least 10 years.

“My husband has been involved in many cases, including murder cases. However, he has managed to go free every time. We want him to be kept out of our lives at least for few some years during which my daughter can get properly educated and make her own life. After that if he kills me, I will accept it,” said the girl’s mother, who is an Odissi dancer in Puri.

The woman said that when she was 17 years old, her parents died. Her husband, a notorious criminal of the area, had raped her then, and later, married her.

Since then, they had been staying at her parents’ house. She said her husband was arrested in 1993 for murdering two siblings and had been sentenced to life imprisonment by Orissa High Court.

However, the Supreme Court later acquitted him. He was also arrested in 2009 for murdering a retired engineer.

“In the engineer murder case, he was in jail for almost three years.

“But when he was released on bail, he started torturing his own daughter,” said the woman.

An official in Puri Town police station said they had arrested the accused.

“We have not got any complaint about the accused issuing threats to the girl and her mother. If they approach us, we will provide security to them,” said an officer.

The rights officials accepted the complaint copy of the girl.

Officials in the state commission for women also approached the complainants and promised to arrange a shelter for them.