Sheetal Ranot and her husband Rajesh Ranot leave Queens Supreme Court on Aug. 13.
Sheetal Ranot and her husband Rajesh Ranot leave Queens Supreme Court on Aug. 13.
NEW YORK (Diya TV) — A Queens woman who beat and starved her 12-year-old stepdaughter until she weighed just 58 pounds will spend 15 years in prison, officials said last week.
Sheetal Ranot, 35, was sentenced to the term for abusing the child over a horrifying two-year period beginning in 2012. A Queens jury convicted her in July of beating the girl numerous times with a broom handle and a rolling pin, as well as locking her inside of her bedroom without food for long periods, officials said.
On one occasion, Ranot beat the girl so badly with a broken metal broom handle that her wrist was sliced to the bone. The girl had to stay in the hospital for two weeks after the incident. She is now living with her biological mother, according to authorities.
On another occasion, Ranot kicked the girl in the face, and on a third, slammed her in the face with a rolling pin.
“The defendant was the epitome of an evil stepmother,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. “Not only did she refuse to provide basic nourishment for the child, but the defendant also wantonly beat and abused the girl inflicting pain still evident by the scars that mark her body today.”
After the incident occurred with the broken broom handle, paramedics arrived at the home to find the young girl lying in a pool of her own blood with the tendons of her left wrist exposed. She was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where she underwent surgery on her wrist and one knee. Her body was covered with older bruises, marks and scars.
Rajesh Ranot, the victim’s biological father, is still facing trial on charges of assault, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.
