Phulbani: A local court sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him in gangrape of a minor girl under Khajuripada police limits in Kandhamal district, Wednesday.
Hearing a 2015 gang-rape case, Samar Bilash Behera, the additional district judge-cum- special judge POCSO court in Phulbani handed down the punishment after convicting Dasarathi Sethi alias Bulu under Sections 376-D, 376 (2) (I), 323, 506 of IPC and Sections 4 and 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Sethi for the heinous crime, failing which he will have to undergo an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment.
As per the court’s order, the fine will be paid to the victim as compensation. It recommended the case to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Phulbani, for awarding the compensation to the victim.
According to the case diary, the incident occurred when the minor survivor had gone outside to relieve herself August 29, 2015. She was returning home when Sethi and his associate waylaid her.
They gagged her mouth and picked her up to an isolated place near a tree. There the two took turns on her. Later, they abandoned her and threatened her of dire consequences if she discloses the matter before others.
The survivor’s mother became apprehensive and went out in search of her daughter. The accused fled the spot on seeing the victim’s mother. The survivor fell sick and lodged a complaint in the police station, August 31. Police registered a case and arrested Sethi. The co-accused is still absconding.
Special public prosecutor Asim Kumar Praharaj pleaded the matter on behalf of the state government.