Balasore: A court in Odisha’s Balasore district Friday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a 14-year-old girl and impregnating her last year.
Special judge, POCSO court, Balasore, Ranjan Kumar Sutar convicted 34-year-old Sukura Singh, a resident of Ganipur village in Remuna police station area in the district, for the rape and also imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000, the failure of payment of which will attract an additional jail term of two years, according to the court order.
According to the prosecution, the father of the survivor lodged an FIR at the police station on July 3 last year alleging that Singh had sexually assaulted the girl while she was working at a brick kiln at Kharagpur in adjoining West Bengal.
When the girl returned home, her family members noticed her physical and behavioural changes and upon enquiry found out about the rape which led to impregnation.
The girl narrated her ordeal and it was found out that she was four-month pregnant by that time, the complainant said in the FIR.
The police, after registering a case under several sections of IPC and POCSO Act, arrested the accused.
The court examined 17 witnesses and 23 exhibits, Special Public Prosecutor Pranab Kumar Panda said.
PTI