Phulbani: A fast track special POCSO court in Phulbani of Kandhamal district awarded Tuesday 25 years of rigorous imprisonment to a man for raping a minor girl in Daringbadi area. The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 20,000 on convict Jirima Pradhan and ordered that in case of default, he will have to undergo an additional jail term for one year.
The crime was reported in 2019 when the girl, a student of Class VII was on her way to school. Pradhan lured her to his house by offering her chocolates and forced her to enter into a sexual relationship with him. He also filmed the act and used the video to force the girl to indulge in physical activities with him later on. This continued for some time till the girl was found pregnant one day.
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A meeting was held in the village over the issue where the accused admitted to his crime. Later, the victim’s mother filed a complaint against Pradhan and a case was registered against him under sections under the POCSO Act.