Bhubaneswar, March 19 A local court here on Monday sentenced a servitor of the famous Lingaraj temple to undergo 18 months rigorous imprisonment for sexual misconduct with a foreign tourist at the shrine nearly a month ago.
"This is probably for the first time that a court in Odisha delivered the judgement within a month of the incident taking place. It will prove a deterrent for such miscreants trying to bring disrepute to the state," said Bijan Bihari Kar, the Assistant Public Prosecutor.
The 22-year-old convict Kanan Mohapatra alias Kundu of Old Town area was apprehended by police for sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman tourist from Sweden who had come here for 'darshan' (worship) of Lord Lingaraj on February 19.
The accused assured the victim to help her get a glimpse of the 11th century shrine from the Lord Curzon Mandap, an elevated viewing tower adjacent to the boundary wall of Lingaraj temple, at the northern gate of the temple.
However, the accused later took the girl to a small temple near the northern gate of the Lingaraj temple and sexually assaulted her.
Meanwhile, the victim who escaped from the spot later informed the guards and other servitors at the temple about the condemnable act.
Based on the complaint, Shree Lingaraj police station filed a case immediately and arrested the accused the next day the incident took place.
"The FIR was registered on February 19 while police submitted the charge sheet on February 23. The trial started with the recording of the statements of seven witnesses, including the victim, on February 26 and the judgement was given on Monday after nearly a month. This happened due to the cooperation between public prosecutors, police and court," Kar added.
Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Prateek Singh, said that a copy of the judgement will be sent to the victim through mail.
"We take the security of tourists coming to the city with utmost sincerity and priority. When the issue came to our knowledge, I had assured that we would ensure justice would be served in the case as soon as possible. We were regularly monitoring the case so that it can be fast-tracked," DCP Singh added.
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