Special Judge POCSO Court Ranjan Kumar Sutar on Monday convicting a 31-year- old rape accused awarded him 7 years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a penalty of Rs 2,000. In default of payment of penalty money, he will undergo another 6 months' jail term .
The convict identified as Debasis Jena of Samaraipur village under Basta police station limits had sexually assaulted a minor girl of that village on March 10 2013. Her relatives had lodged an FIR with police against the accused and he was arrested after registration of a case under Sections 376 and 506 of IPC and 4 of POCSO Act.
“The court after examining11 witnesses and 13 exhibits pronounced the verdict. The court also ordered a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh to the victim to be paid through district legal services authority (DLSA),” said Special Public Prosecutor Pranab Panda.