Berhampur: A POCSO court here Monday sentenced a man to 20 years in jail for raping a six-year-old girl about two years ago.
Pranati Pattnaik, the additional district judge-cum-judge of the special court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, also imposed a Rs 10,000 fine on the convict.
The convict will remain in jail for another two years if he fails to pay the fine amount, Special Public Prosecutor Narayan Panda said.
The court also directed the district legal service authorities to pay Rs 10.50 lakh to the girl under the Odisha victim compensation scheme, he said.
The judgement was pronounced after recording the statements of 12 witnesses.
The court, however, acquitted the mother of the convict who was also implicated in the case by the police, due to lack of evidence, he said.
The incident had taken place June 28, 2023, when the convict forcibly took the girl to the roof of his house and committed the crime, police said.
