Nayagarh: A local court Tuesday awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment to a youth, Rajesh Kumar Mahapatra of Kantilo village near Khandapara in this district, after convicting him of raping his niece.
Judge Projyoti Rout examined the statements of six witnesses in the case and pronounced the jail term. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on Rajesh.
He would undergo an additional one-year jail term, if he defaults in paying the fine, the court ruled.
According to the case diary, the incident occurred February 5, 2010 when Rajesh called his niece home saying that his mother was calling her for some work. When the girl reached his home, he cunningly, locked her inside the house where he outraged her modesty. He then threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone.
However, the girl mustered courage and narrated her ordeal to family members who brought the matter to the notice of the village committee.
The committee meeting decided that Rajesh should marry the victim.
However, Rajesh put up a condition that he would marry the victim only if she gives dowry of Rs 1 lakh.
Hailing from a very poor background, the victim’s family members expressed their inability to meet the dowry demands and lodged a written complaint with Khandapara police following which Rajesh was arrested.
