Man gets 20-yr jail for raping minor

Bhubaneswar: A POCSO court here on Thursday sentenced a man to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a 17-year-old girl five years ago, a government lawyer said. Special Public Prosecutor Rajib Sasmal said the judge of the special POCSO court, Saroj Kumar Sahoo, also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Raja Mallick (21) after convicting him in the rape case.

The judge ordered that if Raja failed to pay the fine, he would serve an additional jail term of three months. The judgment was pronounced on the basis of examination of 14 witnesses and 73 documents, Sasmal said.

The Special Public Prosecutor said the court has directed the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Khurda to pay Rs 3.5 lakh as compensation to the survivor.

According to the prosecution, the survivor was known to the convict, and they were in a relationship. On July 18, 2020, Raja had abducted the girl after promising to marry her and later raped her.