Phulbani: A POCSO court in Odisha’s Kandhamal district Monday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a 14-year-old girl, a government lawyer said.
POCSO court judge, Phulbani, Monoranjan Dash also imposed a fine of Rs 55,000 on the convict, Sahadev Mallick. Failure to pay the amount would attract an additional nine months in jail, public prosecutor Ashim Praharaj said.
The court also ordered the District Legal Services Authority, Kandhamal to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the family of the victim, Praharaj said.
According to the prosecution, January 4, 2024, the accused forcefully entered the house of the victim when she was alone and raped her.
Acting on the basis of the FIR filed by the family of the girl, police registered a case and arrested the man.
PTI