BERHAMPUR: A POCSO court on Thursday sentenced a youth to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old minor girl in Mayurbhanj district.
Twenty-six-year-old Harisankar Behera Dalai of Tumudibandh area in the district had kidnapped the minor girl from her home in 2021 and kept her at different places until 2023. During this period, he raped her multiple times.
When the girl became pregnant in 2022, he terminated her pregnancy. The girl conceived again in 2023, and when Dalai again attempted abortion, she opposed it. The girl then returned to her parents and informed them about the incident.
Her parents approached Dalai’s family for marriage of the two. Although his parents initially agreed but they refused later. In November 2023, the girl’s parents lodged a complaint with Tumudibandh police and eventually Dalai was arrested. Based on the statements of the victim, 12 witnesses, police, doctor and other documents, the accused was convicted.
The court also imposed a fine of `50, 000 on Dalai and failure of payment will attract an additional six months imprisonment. The court also issued an order to the district legal service authority to provide `7 lakh compensation to the victim.