POCSO Court Sentences Man To 20-Yr Jail For Rape Of Minor Girl In Odisha’s Balasore

Balasore: A Special POCSO Court has sentenced a man to jail for 20 years for rape of a minor girl in Odisha’s Balasore district.

As per the case, the convict, Shaikh Mantaj of Marine police station area had lured the girl with chocolates while she was playing in front of her house on September 28, 2023 to an isolated place and raped her.

After the girl told her parents about the incident, they filed a complaint against Mantaj at Marine police station. The police registered a case and arrested Mantaj. Following investigation, the police filed the chargesheet in the court.

The Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Court in Balasore heard the case on Monday. After hearing statements of 16 witnesses and verifying 20 documents, Judge Ranjan Kumar Sutar convicted Mantaj and sentenced him to jail for 20 years.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict. On failure to make the payment of the penalty, the court order him to undergo imprisonment for two more years. The court also directed the district legal service authority to pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victim.