CUTTACK: A 42-year-old man was sentenced to imprisonment for life (for the remainder of his natural life) by a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court here for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in 2019.
The court on Saturday also sentenced his 27-year-old wife to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for abetting the offence committed by the accused, Amit Bindhani. The court further imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Amit and Rs 5,000 on his wife Asha. Special public prosecutor Biswajit Ray led the prosecution before the trial court.
Presiding judge Gayadhar Panda further awarded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim. While directing the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Cuttack, to pay the compensation, the court specified that Rs 3 lakh out of Rs 5 lakh will be kept in a fixed deposit in any nationalised bank till the victim becomes a major and on attaining the age, she will be entitled to receive the same.
The balance amount of Rs 2 lakh will be given to the victim through her mother for her rehabilitation, the order specified.
The trial in the case was taken up on the basis of an FIR lodged by the victim’s mother with Bidanasi police station on July 19, 2019. Amit and Asha are from Jharkhand and were staying on rent in the house of the victim’s mother.
The trial judge convicted the accused relying on 12 witnesses and five documents, including the medical report presented by the prosecution.
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