Bhubaneswar: In a rare development, a special POCSO court here Tuesday awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) each to two people for raping two minors in 2014 and 2015.The first was identified as Kavi Das, 39, a resident of Kolathia village under Khandagiri police limits, who raped his 10-year-old niece.
The additional district sessions court and the special court under the POCSO Act also held Kavi’s wife Rashmita alias Milli guilty of trying to suppress the incident and save her husband. She was awarded one year RI and fined with Rs 1,000 for aiding the accused. In case of default to pay the fine, she will undergo an additional three months of RI, the court ruled.
In another case, the same court awarded a 10-year RI to a 55-year-old man who raped a seven-year-old girl in 2014. The convict was identified as Santosh Kumar Das of Satya Nagar Basti in Bharatpur under Khanadagiri police station. Santosh forcefully dragged the minor into an abandoned house and raped her there. Later, based on a complaint by her parents, Mahila police registered a case.
Kavi ’s sister was staying one kilometer from his residence near Kolathia village and his niece used to come to his residence during holidays. Kavi raped her 17 April, 2015 when his family members were away.
Meanwhile, Kavi’s wife came in and witnessed the incident but instead of opposing her husband, she offered her sweats and threatened her not to disclose the matter.
However, the girl revealed everything to her parents who filed a complaint at Mahila police station. Later, the police arrested the couple from their residence.
Special public prosecutor Subrat priyadarshi examined 10 witnesses while the defense council examined one. A total of 21 documents were produced in support of the allegations before the court. Apart from 10 years of imprisonment, the court also asked the convicts to pay a fine of `5,000 each and incase of failure in depositing the fine, they have to undergo an additional year of RI.