BARIPADA: The court of additional district and sessions judge-cum-fast track special POCSO court on Monday sentenced a 35-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a minor girl in 2017.
Additional district and sessions judge Santosh Kumar Nayak also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on Ananta Tudu of Badhunia village within Bisoi police limits.
His associate Narayan Soren was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The court examined statements of 18 witnesses and medical reports.
The incident had taken place on July 8, 2017 when the minor girl had gone to her uncle’s house. She was sleeping with her grandmother in the night when Tudu and Soren broke into their house. When the victim’s grandmother resisted, the duo beat her black and blue and forcefully took the victim to a nearby forest where they raped her. They further threatened the minor of dire consequences if she revealed the matter to anyone.
The court also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to pay a financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to the victim.