Odisha man sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping girl

Balasor:

A 33-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Balasore district in the Indian state of Odisha on Monday for raping a girl.

Special Judge of the POCSO Court Ranjan Kumar Sutar also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict, failing which he will have to go to jail for another two years.

The incident took place in September last year in the Marine Police Station area. The convict lured the girl with chocolates when she was playing outside his house, said Special Public Prosecutor Pranab Panda.

He took her to a remote place surrounded by dense casuarina trees and raped her.

After the girl’s mother learned about the incident, she reported it to the police and the man was arrested.

The accused was tried and convicted under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 376 AB of the International Penal Code (IPC), which deals with rape of a girl below the age of 12 years.

The court announced the verdict after hearing 16 witnesses and 20 pieces of evidence, Panda said.

It was also directed that a compensation of Rs 400,000 be paid to the survivor through the District Legal Services Authority.

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