20-year-old man sentenced to 20 years for raping teen

Kendrapada: A Jajpur court on Tuesday sentenced a 20-year-old man to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl in Jan.Ad hoc additional district and sessions-cum-fast-track (Pocso) court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, failure to pay which would result in his sentence being increased by two years. Judge Sarat Kumar Dehuri also directed the Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA) to pay a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to the girl.The girl’s mother had filed a complaint in the local police station alleging that the man dragged her daughter to a cowshed and raped her when she was returning home from the market on the evening of Jan 31.Acting on the complaint, police arrested the man under sections 70(2) (rape of a woman under 18 years of age) of BNS and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.Seven witnesses, including the girl, deposed before the court. “After relying on the evidence of witnesses and a medical report, the court convicted the accused,” said Partha Sarathi Ray, special public prosecutor.