Nuapada: The Additional District and Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge (POCSO) court, Nuapada, has sentenced a 26-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping his 15-year-old niece in 2019.
In her judgement, ADJ Minakshi Das slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on Tankadhar Bhoi and failure of payment will attract an additional one-year jail term. The court also awarded a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to the survivor, which will be paid by the district legal services authority.
In 2019, Bhoi, a resident of Chhata village under Khariar police limits, went to the minor’s house in absence of her parents and committed the crime. He happens to be the paternal uncle of the girl.
He threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed the matter to anyone and regularly visited the girl’s house in absence of her parents. Subsequently, the minor became pregnant. The villagers drew the attention of the mother to the girl’s expanding belly. After being queried, the minor girl narrated her ordeal following which an FIR was lodged with the police on December 25, 2019. The victim delivered a baby boy in January 2020.
Police started an investigation and Bhoi was arrested under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and 376 (2) (i), 376 (2) (n), 376 (3) and 506 of the IPC.
Blood samples of the girl, her newborn and Bhoi were collected and sent for DNA profiling. The DNA report of the child established that the accused and the minor victim were the biological parents. In her verdict, judge Das observed that the prosecution was able to establish the fact that the accused had committed repeated rape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault upon the survivor and in the process criminally intimidated her. After the incident, the gril was shifted to a government shelter home at Khariar where she continues to stay.
