Special Court POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act) Judge Ajanta Sadangi convicted three accused involved in a sexual assault of a minor girl during her stay in a short stay home in Baleswar.
The convicts are in-charge of the stay home Goura Chandra Khamari (62), gardner Shyam Patra (42) and warden of the home Mama Behera(33).
The trio was convicted under different sections of IPC and POCSO Act and have to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) along with Rs 20,000 penalty, and in the default, another 6 months.
Most importantly, this is a Red flag case which was probed by the Crime Branch and the CID. According to reports, the victim was sexually assaulted by Khamari and Patra a number of times during her stay in the distress home, Bapuji Seva Sadan, Chandipur under Nilgiri police station limits, between 2010 and 2013.
The other convict, Mama Behera was abetting the crime. During her stay she even became pregnant due to the assault, which was terminated bythe accused trio.
The matter came to light when the victim narrated her plights during her stay in another short stay home in Baleswar in February, 2015.
The incident had rocked the district and the Child Welfare Committee, Child Protection Unit had conducted an inquiry and the victim was rescued by the district administration.
Special Public Prosecutor, POCSO Court, Pranab Kumar Panda said, “The court pronounced the verdict after cross examining 27 witnesses and examining 37 documents. While there were five accused persons in the case, the other two are exonerated due to lack sufficient evidences against them.”