Man sentenced to 20-yr RI for teenager’s abduction, rape

Kendrapada: A special Pocso court in Jajpur on Friday sentenced a 26-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a teenager in a village last year.The additional district judge-cum-special judge (Pocso), Abhilash Senapati, also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict. In the event of default, he will have to serve an additional year of imprisonment. The court further directed the Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA) to pay Rs 8 lakh as compensation to the rape survivor.Pronouncing the verdict, the court convicted the man under Sections 64(2)(m) (repeated rape of the same woman), 137(2) (kidnapping), 74 (assault or use of criminal force to outrage modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.According to the prosecution, the convict kidnapped the 15-year-old on Jan 23 last year and sexually assaulted her repeatedly at the house of one of his relatives for nearly two months.The girl’s mother had lodged a complaint at the police station, alleging that her daughter had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted by the man. Police subsequently arrested him and filed a chargesheet.