The Additional District and Sessions Judge Court here on Friday awarded death sentence to a youth for kidnapping, raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl at Kangula village in the district in January 2019.
The court sentenced the youth Suresh Chandra Pradhan alias Anam to life imprisonment for raping the minor girl and awarded seven years of imprisonment for destroying evidence. And the Judge also awarded death sentence to Pradhan for killing the girl.
This is the first case in Angul district and second in the State, where death sentence has been pronounced under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Notably, a 12-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped, raped and later murdered near a temple at Kangula village in Angul district on January 20.
When the girl was going to her father’s shop, carrying lunch for him, Pradhan kidnapped and raped her.
Later, he stoned the girl to death and dumped her body near a bush to destroy evidence.