Baripada: A Special POCSO Court here Thursday sentenced a 37-year-old man to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him in a rape case involving a girl in 2017.
The incident took place inside Shri Jagannath Temple in Baripada.
The POCSO court judge Sumita Jena also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict Gurucharan Behera of Deulasahi under Baripada Town Police Station, special public prosecutor, Abhinna Kumar Pattnaik said.
The court also directed District Legal Services Authority to pay Rs 4 Lakh to the rape survivor.
Patnaik said at around 9 pm on March 31, 2017, the convict had taken the 10-year-old girl inside the temple after luring her with chocolates.
Baripada town police arrested him after registering a case against him under POCSO Act.
The judgement was based on the medical report, statements of the minor girl, and 24 witnesses, the special public prosecutor said.
PTI
