Keonjhar: An Additional District Judge-cum-special POCSO court Wednesday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) after convicting him of raping and assaulting a 17-year-old mentally-challenged girl in 2019.
Judge Monalisa Mahanty also slapped a penalty of Rs5,000 on the convict, Basanta Rout, 39, a resident of Kanapur village under Hatadihi block. Defaulting on payment of the fine will invite an additional 1 year in prison, ordered the judge.
Furthermore, the judge directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to pay Rs10 lakh compensation to the victim and provide her with the Rs5,000 fine collected from the convict. According to the case diary, the incident occurred around 3:30 pm December 12, 2019, when the victim had gone to the nearby river to take a bath. Finding her alone, Basanta forcefully took her to a nearby mango orchard where he raped her.
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He also assaulted the girl after committing the crime and threatened to kill her if she disclosed the matter before anyone. The critically injured girl narrated her ordeal before her family members, who complained to Soso police station later in the evening.
Acting on the complaint, police registered a case, arrested Basanta, and forwarded him to court. The judge pronounced the aforesaid judgement after verifying the statements of 28 witnesses and going through the police investigation report.
PNN
