Bhubaneswar, March 5 A local court in Odisha’s Keonjhar district on Wednesday sentenced a person to undergo 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for sexually abusing a minor girl in 2022.
The convict was identified as Jagannath Munda alias Kunu, a resident of Sadar Police station area in Keonjhar district. The court has also asked the convict Kunu to pay Rs 10,000 as fine. He would serve additional imprisonment of six months if he fails to pay the fine amount.
“The accused person and the minor victim belong to the same village under Keonjhar Sadar Police limits. The convict who used to visit the victim's house was known to her family. Taking advantage of the acquaintance with the victim’s family, Kunu on October 4, 2022 managed to get the permission of the 11-year-old victim’s family to take her to a nearby village for visiting a fair on the occasion of Dussehara,” said Gyanendra Nath Jena, the special public prosecutor.
Jena further added that the accused took the girl to an isolated place a few kilometers away from the village and forcefully sexually abused the victim.
He later fled away, leaving the minor at the spot. When the family members of the victim asked the accused about the whereabouts of the girl, he told them that the victim had gone missing in the fair.
Meanwhile, the worried family members the next day received information from one of the victim’s uncles that she was in his house. When the family member reached there, the victim narrated her ordeal before her mother.
Based on the complaint lodged by the family members, Police arrested the accused on October 6, 2022 by registering a case under various sections of IPC and the POCSO Act.
The court, after examining the statements of 19 witnesses and the evidence produced by the police, pronounced the judgment.
The court also directed the District Legal Services Authority to pay financial aid of Rs 7 lakh to the victim.
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