Phulbani: A man was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 20 years by a court in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on Wednesday for raping a minor girl three years ago.
The court of the special POCSO judge, while pronouncing the jail term for Ashish Kumar Nayak, also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 for abducting and raping the minor girl in 2020.
In case of failure to pay the fine, the convict will have to undergo an additional six months of imprisonment, the court said in its verdict.
The court further ordered the District Legal Services Authority to pay a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to the victim.
According to the case details, on January 12, 2020, while the minor girl had gone to the market alone, Ashish forcibly abducted her and committed the crime.
The girl’s parents later lodged a complaint in this connection at Nuagaon police station. On the basis of the complaint, Nuagaon police registered a case and arrested the Ashish.
The court pronounced the verdict after taking into account statements of 15 witnesses, medical report and other pieces of evidence.
