Rourkela: The POCSO court here Friday sentenced a man from Sundargarh district to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping his daughter.
The additional district judge of POCSO court Parthasarathi Patnaik awarded the punishment to Raj Kumar Lohar for his crime. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict, failing which he will undergo one more year of imprisonment, a judgment read.
The POCSO court sounded the quantum of punishment for the convict Lohar based on statements of the rape survivor and 11 witnesses along with police investigation report.
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In addition, the court also ordered to provide compensation to the tune of Rs 7 lakh to the minor girl.
According to a source, 31-year-old Lohar had repeatedly raped his seven-year-old daughter in a period of three months, in the absence of her mother who was away from home for reason.
After a few days gap, when the man attempted to rape the girl again March 6, 2013, the victim’s mother who was present at home opposed him. Irked with opposition, Lohar assaulted his wife and attacked her with a sharp weapon, a police official said.
Grandmother of the rape survivor had lodged an FIR with Raghunathpali police against her son.
Acting on the FIR, police arrested the accused man and registered a case in this connection under Sections 376(2)(F), 323, 341, 506 of the IPC and Section 6 of POCSO Act.
PNN