‘Evil Stepmother' Sentenced to Prison for Starving, Terrorizing Young Girl for Years

District Attorney Richard Brown called Sheetal Ranot "the epitome of an evil stepmother'

What to Know

  • Sheetal Ranot was convicted of assault and child endangerment charges in July
  • Prosecutors said she and the girl's father, who is awaiting trial, horribly abused little Maya Ranot starting when she was 10 years old
  • After being hit in the face with a rolling pin, the child was taken to a hospital and found to be just 58 pounds, prompting investigation

A Queens woman was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for beating and starving her young stepdaughter for two years, depriving her of food and water and hitting her with baseball bats and broom handles so severely that in one case, the little girl was found lying in a pool of blood with a wrist cut so deep her tendons were visible, prosecutors said.

Sheetal Ranot, 35, was accused of locking the 12-year-old girl in her room, hitting her in the face with a rolling pin and beating her with a broken metal broom handle that cut her wrist down to the bone. She was convicted of assault and child endangerment charges in July. 

The victim's biological father, Rajesh Ranot, is also charged with assault, unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment. He will be tried at a later date. It's unclear what happened to the child after the arrests. 

Prosecutors allege the Ozone Park duo terrorized the child from December 2012 to July 2014.

According to a criminal complaint, Sheetal Ranot repeatedly hit her stepdaughter, causing bruising and pain, locked her in her bedroom and starved here for extended periods of time during that two-year span. In one case, the 31-year-old woman allegedly kicked the then 10-year-old girl in the face while wearing shoes.

Six months later, Ranot repeatedly hit the girl with a broken metal broom handle, leaving her with a cut near her knee and a cut so deep on her wrist that her tendons were exposed and she needed to have surgery, the complaint said.

Rajesh Ranot also allegedly starved the girl for years, and prosecutors say he forced her to take cold showers while he beat her with his fists and other household objects, including a baseball bat.

In April 2014, Sheetal Ranot allegedly hit her stepdaughter in the face with a wooden rolling pin. The girl had to be taken to the hospital, and doctors there saw she was painfully thin -- weighing 58 pounds -- and wearing dirty clothes. It wasn't clear if they contacted authorities.

Over the next three weeks, prosecutors allege Rajesh Ranot continued to beat his daughter with a baseball bat. The girl was taken to the emergency room, where doctors noticed various bruises, marks and scars in different stages of healing all over her body. An investigation was launched and the stepmother and father were arrested shortly afterward.

Child-welfare authorities ultimately removed the girl from the home.

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