CUTTACK: The Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court, Cuttack on Tuesday awarded Rs 5 lakh compensation to a minor girl who was kidnapped and raped in 2019.
Presiding Judge Subash Kumar Behari awarded the compensation after taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case and the age of the victim at the time of occurrence of the crime. The compensation was awarded during the conviction of Ramakanta Singh (23) who was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000.
Special public prosecutor Ramesh Chandra Mohanty led the prosecution with 16 witnesses and 17 documents including the medical reports. The Judge directed the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Cuttack to ensure compliance with the order relating to compensating the victim. Any compensation if it has already been paid to the victim as interim aid shall be adjusted with the Rs 5 lakh compensation, the order said.
The trial in the case was taken up on the basis of an FIR lodged by the victim’s father at Nemalo police station on November 22, 2019. The victim was six years old when the incident occurred. Singh has been in custody since his arrest in November, 2019. The pre-conviction detention period undergone as under trial prisoner shall be set off against the substantive sentence of 20 years, the judge specified in the order of sentence.
The incident occurred when a ‘jatra’ party was staging show in the victim’s village at night. Singh, the dance master of the jatra party had called the victim to teach her to dance on a Bhajan song which was recorded on his cell phone. He had then taken her to a nearby forest and raped her.