A Sundargarh POSCO court on Saturday sentenced a man to undergo 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his minor daughter for three consecutive months in 2013.
Additional District Judge of the Pocso court Partha Sarathi Patnaik also fined the 31-year-old convict Raj Kumar Lohar Rs 5,000 and in default he has to undergo another year’s imprisonment.
The man was caught red-handed on March 6, 2013, by his mother when he attempted to rape the 7-year-old child. But he assaulted his mother and also tried to attack her with a sword. The old woman instead of being cowed down lodged a complaint with the Raghunathpalli police. Based on the allegation, police arrested the accused and booked him under Sections 376(2)(f)/323/341/506 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
Based on statements of the victim and 11 other witnesses along with the police probe report, the quantum of punishment was announced.
The court also ordered the State Government to grant Rs 7 lakh to the rape victim as compensation.