Keonjhar: Keonjhar Fast Track Court Judge Bijay Kumar Mishra Saturday convicted Prashanta Sethi aka Happy for rape of a minor girl and awarded him 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
He also slapped a fine of Rs20,000 on the convict. Failure to pay the fine will lead to an additional 2-year imprisonment, the judge ordered.
According to the case file, the accused Prashanta Sethi aka Happy from Khuntapada village under Telkoi police limits raped a minor girl from Banspal block and rendered her pregnant with false promise of marriage. The accused threatened to kill the girl if she disclosed the matter to anybody.
However, the pregnant minor lodged a complaint at Sadar police station and a case was registered in this regard. Police then arrested the accused and forwarded him to court.
Judge Bijay Kumar Mishra pronounced the judgement against the accused U/S 376 (2), 376 (3) of IPC and under Section 6 of POCSO act after hearing from 19 witnesses and going through the investigation report.
The judge also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to give away Rs 7 lakh ex-gratia to the survivor, special public prosecutor Gyanendra Nath Jena said.
PNN
