Baripada: A special POCSO court and the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge sentenced two persons to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment Monday after holding them guilty of gangraping a 14- year-old girl in 2017. The accused were identified as Keshav Tiria, 46, of Takudipala village and Ashis Dighi, 29, under Jashipur police limits in Mayurbhanj district. Judge Sumita Jena also slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 each on the two convicts for the offence.
In default, the two will have to undergo an additional three months in prison, the judge said while delivering the order. The judge also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to give Rs 4 lakh financial assistance to the survivor as compensation. The judge passed the order after examining the statements of 20 witnesses, medical and the police report, special public prosecutor Abhinna Pattnaik pleading the matter on behalf of the Odisha government said.
According to the case diary, the girl’s parents had left their three daughters at home and had gone to visit relatives, February 10, 2017. The victim was alone at home February 11 as the two other sisters had gone to fetch water. Taking advantage of the situation, the two accused barged into the house and took turns in raping the minor. While leaving, they threatened to harm her and her family if she disclosed the matter before others. The survivor narrated her ordeal before her parents when they returned home. The girl’s mother lodged a complaint in the local police station. Police registered a case and conducted a medical examination of the girl and arrested both the accused. The accused were later, produced in court.