Berhampur: A POCSO court in Odisha’s Berhampur Wednesday sentenced a 28-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl four years ago, a government counsel said.
Additional district judge cum POCSO special court judge Pranati Pattnaik also imposed a Rs 10,000 fine on the convict, and failure to pay the amount would attract an additional six months in prison, special public prosecutor Narayan Panda said.
The court also directed the district legal service authorities to pay Rs 3 lakh to the victim.
The entire fine amount will be paid to the survivor after recovery, the court ordered.
Police said the convict had taken the victim from her house on some pretext on May 30, 2022. Her family searched the area extensively but did not find her. June 1, the convict called the victim’s mother up and said he had brought her to Bhubaneswar.
The victim’s mother lodged an FIR in Gangapur police station on the same day.
A POCSO Act was registered, and the accused was nabbed June 6, and the girl was rescued. The accused was on bail since August 28, 2023, police said.
