SURI: A court in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Wednesday sentenced a man to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment in the 2019 rape case of a seven-year-old girl.
Additional district and sessions judge Sujay Sengupta convicted Jagan Mardy under various sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The court also ordered the state government to pay Rs 2 lakh to the victim as compensation.
Mardy had lured the girl, his neighbour in their village near Bolpur town of the district, on some pretext, took her to a secluded place and raped her on April 4, 2019.
The class 2 student was critically injured and had to be treated for a long time in hospitals in Birbhum and Purba Bardhaman districts.
Altogether 16 people were examined as witnesses in the case.
The girls mother said she is happy with the judgment.