Kendrapara (Odisha): A POCSO court in Odisha's Kendrapara district on Thursday sentenced a 30-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a girl in 2017.
The ad hoc additional sessions judge, first track special court in Kendrapara, Tribikram Keshari Chinhara, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, who would have to undergo an additional 12 months in prison if he fails to pay the fine amount, prosecution counsel Manoj Kumar Sahu said. The court pronounced the verdict after examining medico-legal evidence and 17 witnesses, including the survivor, he said.
The incident took place on November 13, 2017 when the girl, who was then aged 12 years, was alone at her home and the convict, a neighbour, took advantage of it and raped her, threatening her of dire consequences if she revealed the incident to anyone. Later, her parents came to know about it and lodged an FIR with the police.
Police had filed a charge-sheet against the accused under Sections 376 AB (punishment for rape on woman under twelve years of age), 294 (obscene acts), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Meanwhile, a POCSO court in Sundargarh district on Wednesday sentenced a former school headmaster to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl student two years ago. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 70,000 on the convict, who would have to serve an additional seven months in prison if he fails to pay the amount, public prosecutor Debashish Mishra said.
POCSO court judge Mahendra Kumar Sutradhar pronounced the verdict on Wednesday. According to the prosecution, the girl was subjected to sexual assault in April 2022, which allegedly drove her to death by suicide.
