Berhampur: A court in Odisha’s Ganjam district Tuesday sentenced a 53-year-old man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping a girl three years ago.
Special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) court judge Ganeshwar Pati sentenced Parhallad Behera, a farmer and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 for raping the 10-year-old girl.
The court also directed the district legal service authorities (DLSA) to pay Rs 5-lakh to the survivor as a compensatory amount, said special public prosecutor, Mohan Singari.
The court pronounced the judgment after recording the statements of 12 witnesses, including police, doctor, survivor and others and based on the medical reports, said the special prosecutor.
When the minor girl was playing on the road September 13, 2019, Behere took her to the outskirt of the village and raped her.
The victim’s father had lodged an FIR September 24, 2019 after the girl narrated the incident. Police arrested the accused person under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act the next day.
PTI
