Bhubaneswar/Berhampur: A POCSO court in Berhampur Monday awarded life imprisonment to a man after holding him guilty of rape and murder of his 5-year-old niece in Ganjam district in April this year.
The court awarded Kalia Nahak alias Sanda Kalia, 27, rigorous life imprisonment under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. He was also convicted under Sections 103(1), 238(a), and 137(2) of the BNS. The court directed the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to provide Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family.
The girl’s mother said she trusted the judiciary but a death sentence would have brought peace to her daughter’s soul.
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According to the prosecution, the minor girl was playing outside the home at Kholingi village under Pattapur police limits in Ganjam April 25 evening when Nahak kidnapped her. He later raped the child, killed her and dumped the body at an under-construction Anganwadi building.
Following the complaint, police launched an investigation and arrested the accused. The matter was initially treated as a blind case, but scientific evidence and investigation, led by inspector Dipti Ranjan Behera under the supervision of the Ganjam Superintendent of Police, established the involvement of the accused, the prosecution said.
The chargesheet was filed within 50 days, and 20 prosecution witnesses were examined in a record timeframe. The trial concluded with conviction within four months. The proceedings were monitored by the Inspector General (Southern Range) and the Inspector General (CAW), while close coordination between the prosecution and police secured the conviction.
PNN