Balasore: Special judge of POCSO court in Balasore, Ranjan Kumar Sutar, convicted a rape accused and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) Wednesday.
The convict, identified as N Ramarao of Simulia police limits in Balasore district, was accused of raping a minor girl in 2018. Police arrested him and remanded him to judicial custody after the survivor’s family members lodged a complaint.
The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 on Ramarao, apart from the punishment. In default, Ramarao has to undergo additional six months of imprisonment, the judge observed while delivering the order. This was stated here by special public prosecutor Pranab Kumar Panda who pleaded the matter on behalf of the state government.
The judge passed the order after examining the statements of nine witnesses, 20 documents and police charge-sheets.
The judge also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to give away Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to the minor survivor.
PNN
