Indian-origin woman faces 25 years in prison for assaulting stepdaughter

An Indian-origin woman in the US has been charged with brutally abusing her 12-year-old stepdaughter for nearly two years, said US authorities. She now faces 25 years in jail.

Sheetal Ranot, 35, was found guilty of locking her pre-teen step daughter Maya Ranot, in her bedroom without food or even water for extended periods of time, with her weight dropping to 58 pounds, the officials said in a statement on Friday.

Maya was struck with a metal broom handle and a wooden rolling pin, which also left her body with scars.

"No child deserves to be treated in this manner," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and charged Sheetal with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Ranot and her husband tortured the child for nearly two years in their Ozone Park house of horrors, Brown said.

Rajesh Ranot, the victim's biological father, is also charged with second- and third-degree assault, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child, and will be tried at a later date, the statement read.

--IANS

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