Dhenkanal: A special POCSO court sentenced two youths to 20-years of imprisonment and two years of jail after convicting them for rape of a minor girl and later making a video of the act viral.
Judge Raj Kishore Mohapatra handed down 20-years of imprisonment to Shatrughna Sahu (23) alias Bachhia while two years jail to Sheshadev Barik (25), an accomplice in the case, Friday. The judge acquitted another youth Gobind Mishra (27) in the case for want of sufficient evidence. The judge also directed Shatrughna to pay a penalty of Rs 20,000 apart from the sentence. In default, he has to undergo an additional one year of imprisonment.
According to the case diary, Shatrughna feigned love with the 15-year old survivor on the pretext of marriage and later raped her on the high school verandah, July 8 2015. Shesadev and Gobind recorded the act on their mobile phones and later made it viral.
Police registered a case under various sections of POCSO Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) and launched an investigation after the survivor filed an FIR in the Bhuban police station July 20. Police arrested the three youths and produced them in court. The judge heard the matter and sentenced Shatrughna to 20-years of imprisonment under Section-376 of IPC and 6 POCSO Act.
Special public prosecutor of POCSO court Suleman Khan pleaded the matter on behalf of the state government.