Koraput: A court today awarded life term to a man in a rape and murder of a minor girl in Machakunda area in Koraput district.
A special POCSO court in Jeypore has also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict Ramesh Dangayat of Deulagada in Jeypore in the case.
The court also ordered legal services authority to pay Rs 8.75 lakh to the family of the victim.
The judgment was pronounced based on the statements of 17 witnesses and 28 documents.
The convict Ramesh had committed the crime in 2020. Ramesh had come to work as a mason when the minor girl was playing in her house verandah. As the electricity was disconnected to the house for construction work, the convict took the advantage of darkness and picked the girl to an abandoned defunct car.
He assaulted her sexually inside the vehicle and murdered her fearing police action.
Later, parents of the girl registered a case against him. Based on the complaint, police arrested him and slapped section 376, 302, POCSO Act 6 and Sc/St Atrocity Act.
