Balasore: A special POCSO court Monday sentenced a youth to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) after convicting him in the rape case of a minor. The convict was identified as Debashis Jena, 31, a resident under Basta police limits in Balasore district. The special POCSO court judge Ranjan Kumar Sutar also slapped a penalty of Rs 2,000 on Jena, apart from the punishment. The judge passed the order on the basis of the statements of 11 witnesses, 13 documents and the police chargesheet in the case.
The judge also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to give away Rs 1.5 lakh ex-gratia to the survivor, public prosecutor Pranab Kumar Panda said. The incident occurred when the survivor had gone to her maternal uncle’s house in a village under Basta police limits for Shiv Ratri festival. She was watching a video with her grandmother inside the temple premises when she got up in the middle of the show and left for the house, March 10, 2023.
Finding the girl alone, Jena picked her up and took her to a haystack at a deserted place and raped her. Her grandmother came searching and heard her scream forcing Jena to run away from the spot. The elderly woman rescued the minor and lodged a complaint at the Basta police station. Police registered a case and arrested Jena during an investigation.