KENDRAPARA: The additional district judge-cum-special judge, POCSO court of Kendrapara, based on DNA test reports, sentenced a 65-year-old man to 20 years imprisonment on Wednesday for repeatedly raping a 16-year-old minor girl since 2022 and impregnating her.
Judge Pranati Patnaik in her order held that DNA tests proved that accused Rajiv Mallick of the village under Aul police station was the biological father of the child of the rape survivor. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict.
The minor survivor gave birth to a baby boy in January 2023 for which the court ordered a DNA test on the accused and the baby boy. On the basis of the DNA report from the State Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), it was proved that the accused is the biological father of the son of the rape victim.
As per reports, the girl’s mother filed an FIR in Aul police station on August 25, 2022, after the minor girl was found to be in an advanced stage of pregnancy due to sexual assault on her. She alleged in the FIR that her minor daughter was raped multiple times by Mallick, a neighbour, for six months. But it was only after her mother noticed changes in her daughter that she suspected foul play. By then, the minor’s pregnancy was at an advanced stage.
Acting on the FIR, police launched an investigation and arrested the accused under section - 376 (rape) of IPC, section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012. Basing the DNA report, survivor and 12 witnesses’ deposition, the court convicted the accused, said special public prosecutor, Manoj Sahoo.