Baripada: A Special POCSO Court has sentenced a 37-year-old man to rigorous imprisonment for 12 years for raping a minor girl in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district over five years ago.
Judge of the POCSO court here Sumita Jena, after convicting Gurucharan Behera of Deulasahi under Baripada Town Police Station on Thursday, also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000.
The incident took place inside Shri Jagannath Temple in Baripada on March 31, 2017
The court also directed District Legal Services Authority to pay Rs 4 lakh to the rape survivor, according to special public prosecutor, A K Pattnaik.
Patnaik said at around 9 pm on the night of the incident, the convict had taken the 10-year-old girl inside the temple premises after luring her with chocolates.
He was arrested after Baripada town police registered a case against him under the provisions of POCSO Act.
The judgment was pronounced on the basis of the medical report, statements of the minor girl and 24 witnesses, the special public prosecutor was quoted by PTI as saying.
