

ROURKELA: Birmitrapur police on Friday arrested a 23-year-old youth on charges of raping and impregnating a minor girl.
The accused, Kuldeep Hansdah of Ganjutoli of Bhadarpur under Birmitrapur police limits, was produced before the POCSO court in Sundargarh town and remanded in judicial custody.
Birmitrapur IIC Ram Prasad Nag said the 15-year-old victim’s father lodged a complaint on Thursday night basing on police registered a case and arrested the accused under sections 64 (2) (m) and 351 (3) of BNS and section 6 of POCSO Act. Medical examination of the accused and the girl was conducted.
Police said the crime came to light after the girl, a Class X student, complained of stomach pain. Her father recently took her to the hospital and came to know that she was five months pregnant.
In his complaint, the girl’s father alleged that in June this year, the accused raped his daughter in an isolated area and threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone. Out of fear, the minor kept quiet. Her family came to know about the crime after she started to feel uneasy in November.
The IIC said the girl has been admitted to the one-stop Sakhi centre at Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) for necessary counselling and treatment.