Keonjhar: Keonjhar Additional District and Sessions cum Special POCSO Judge Subhashree Tripathy convicted Pratap Prusty, 35, for raping a 10- year-old girl and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and slapped a fine of Rs23,000. Failure to pay the fine will lead to an additional 15-month imprisonment, the judge ordered.
According to case file, accused Pratap Prusty of Balani area committed the crime October 3, 2020. The minor girl had gone to Balani market to get breakfast. While she was returning home, Pratap took the minor girl to the nearby Mahendra Swain camp and raped her there. He also threatened her not to disclose the matter to anybody and fled from the spot.
The girl returned home and narrated her ordeal before her mother who then lodged a complaint at Balani Police Station the same night. Balani police after registering a case, arrested Prusty and forwarded him to court. Since then he was lodged at Keonjhar district jail as an undertrial prisoner.
The judge pronounced the judgement after hearing 18 eyewitnesses and going through the police investigation report. The judge also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to give away Rs7.5 lakh ex-gratia to the survivor, special public prosecutor Ganesh Prasad Mohapatra said.
PNN