Sambalpur: A special POCSO court here Thursday sentenced a youth to 10 years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) after convicting him of performing unnatural sex with a 12-year old boy in 2014. The convict was identified as Sumant Pradhan, 28, in the area. Judge Abhilash Senapati of the special POCSO court also slapped a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the convict, apart from the punishment. Similarly, the court also awarded seven years RI and slapped Rs 50,000 fine on the convict under Section 4 of POCSO Act.
In default, the convict has to undergo an additional six months of RI each and both sentences will run concurrently, the judge observed while delivering the order. The judge passed the order after examining the statements of 11 witnesses, police chargesheet and other evidence, Special Public Prosecutor Santosh Panda said. According to the case diary, the incident occurred when the minor, accompanied by three of his friends, had gone to pluck mangoes near Luhapanka panchayat office, May 23, 2014. Sumant, who was present there, lured the survivor to the backyard of the panchayat office and forcibly performed unnatural sex with him. His friends noticed them and ran back to the village to inform the villagers.
Villagers rescued the minor and informed his parents. Meanwhile, Sumant managed to escape from the spot taking advantage of the crowd. The boy narrated his ordeal after his parents arrived. Later, the survivor’s mother complained about the accused. Police registered a case and launched an investigation. Later, they arrested the accused during probe and produced him in the court.
