Baripada: A court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old man to 20-year imprisonment for raping a mentally-challenged woman five years ago.
It also imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on Mahadev Singh and in case of default, he has to remain in jail for another six months.
The court convicted him of raping the woman, aged 25, in 2019.
Special Public Prosecutor Monoranjan Pattnaik said the court found the accused guilty of the offence of rape and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 20 years.
The judgement was based on the statement of 21 witnesses and medical report, he said.
The court directed the Mayurbhanj District Legal Services Authority to pay Rs5 lakh as compensation to the victim.
According to the public prosecutor, the convicted man dragged the mentally disturbed woman from her residence to a nearby place and raped her.
The woman was alone in her house when Singh entered the premises.
The police registered a case under various sections of the IPC after the woman’s father lodged an FIR, and arrested the accused.
PTI