NUAPADA: A POCSO court in Nuapada on Tuesday sentenced a 62-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment besides imposing fine of Rs 22,000 for sexually assaulting a mentally-challenged boy two years back.
The convict, Sushil Kumbhar, had committed the crime on December 12, 2022 at Duriapada village within Khariar police limits. Sources said since the victim, then aged around 10 years, is mentally-challenged and speech-impaired, his mother used to drop and pick him up from school every day. On the day of the incident, when she along with his cousin sister reached the school to pick him up, she could not find him.
On searching, a tenant of the convict informed her that he saw him taking her son into his house and closing the door. Subsequently, when the woman reached Kumbhar’s house, she caught him red-handed committing unnatural act on her son. Soon after, the victim’s parents lodged an FIR with police.
During the course of investigation, the investigating officer (IO) examined the statements of the victim’s mother and other material witnesses besides visiting the spot.
While the trial commenced in April 2024, the prosecution examined as many as 21 witnesses including the victim and the order was pronounced on Tuesday. During the trial, the court found Kumbhar guilty of all the offences.
Pronouncing the verdict, the additional district and sessions judge cum special judge, (POCSO), Minakshi Das, said, “There is no gainsaying that the case is definitely one of heinous and grave offences and that the sentence must be imposed upon the convict considering principle proportionality and by balancing both aggravating and mitigating factors in which crime was committed.”
The court also recommended the District Legal Services Authority, Nuapada to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the victim under the Victim Compensation Scheme 2017.