Phulbani: A POCSO court in Odisha’s Phulbani has sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a girl last year.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 55,000 on convict Kissan Sanseth of Kotagarh area. He would have to serve an additional jail term of eight months if he fails to pay the amount, special public prosecutor Asim Praharaj said.
The sentence was pronounced on Wednesday based on statements of 18 witnesses, and medical documents.
According to the public prosecutor, the victim, a nine-year-old girl, was playing in front of the house of the accused in the village on May 23, 2023. The accused dragged the girl to his house and raped her.
The accused had also threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident to anyone.
The next day, the victim’s family lodged a complaint with Kotagarh police station over the incident and the police arrested the accused and forwarded him to the court at Balliguda, Praharaj said.
PTI