Bhubaneswar: A POCSO court here Wednesday awarded a three-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a man after holding him guilty of sexually abusing a minor girl under Khandagiri police limits in the City in 2019. “The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 5,000 on the convict, Padmanav Jena. Failure to pay the penalty would entail an additional three-month of jail term,” Special Public Prosecutor Rajib Sasmal said. Sasmal said the victim and Padmanav were neighbours. And Padmanav frequently visited her house.
“On March 8, 2019, the girl’s father and brother were away. Finding her alone, Padmanav sexually abused the minor. The girl’s elder sister, who was taking a shower, suddenly came out of the washroom and managed to overpower Padmanav,” Sasmal said, adding that soon, Padmanav was handed over to police.