Bhubaneswar: The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court here Monday awarded rigorous imprisonment (RI) of 18 months to a priest of Lingaraj Temple after holding him guilty of sexually harassing a 28-year-old Swedish woman outside the 11th-century shrine in the City, February 19 this year. JMFC Payal Gupta convicted Kundan Mahapatra alias Kundu for the offences under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the IPC, Assistant Public Prosecutor Bijay Kumar Barik told Orissa POST.
According to Barik, Mahapatra had sexually harassed the Swedish woman February 19 and was arrested two days later. Police submitted the chargesheet against Mahapatra in the JMFC Court here (February 23) within 96 hours of the occurrence of the crime. The trial began February 26, and the court recorded the victim’s statement on the first day of trial itself, Barik said. The Twin City Commissionerate Police facilitated a speedy start of the trial to ensure that the victim was not stuck in Odisha for a long time. City Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Prateek Singh said, “We gave top priority to the sensitive case and completed the investigation quickly. Submission of the chargesheet in just four days and the start of trial within a week from the date of the occurrence of the crime is a twin record for Odisha Police.” Earlier the fastest submission of chargesheets in some heinous offences in the state took seven to 15 days. And, the trial used to start only after two or three months of the crimes.
