Baripada: A POCSO court here sentenced a man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a 12-year-old girl in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, a government lawyer said Wednesday.
Special POCSO court judge Santosh Kumar Nayak also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on convict Md Mustakim (35), Special Public Prosecutor Manaranjan Pattnaik said.
The court directed the secretary of Mayurbhanj District Legal Services Authority to pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victim, he said.
The judgment was based on the victim’s statement, seven witnesses and the medical report, Pattnaik added.
According to police, Md Mustakim, a relative of the victim, had taken her to a nearby riverbank located in Bahalda police station area and raped her March 8, 2023. Later, her family members lodged an FIR at the police station.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of POCSO Act and IPC and arrested the accused.
PTI
