Odisha Teacher Gets 20-Year Jail Term For Raping Minor Girls

Jajpur: A schoolteacher was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 20 years by a special POCSO court for raping two minor girls in Odisha’s Jajpur district two years ago.

The special court under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act on Monday convicted the teacher, identified as Mohan Bhuyan, and pronounced the jail term for committing the crime in 2022.

In addition to the jail term, the convicted teacher has been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. In case of failure to pay the penalty, the convict will have to undergo additional jail term for 18 months.

As per case record, the incident took place at a government school in Panikoili where the teacher committed the crime. The teacher, who provided private tuition, detained the two girl students separately on different occasions and committed the offence.

Following these incidents, the victims’ families filed complaints at the Panikoili police station. The accused was arrested and charged under Section 376(AB) and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The court announced a 20-year prison term in today’s hearing.

The judge delivered the sentence based on the statements of 16 witnesses and other evidence, according to special prosecutor Rajeev Mohanty.