Jajpur: Additional District & Sessions Judge (POCSO) Court, Jajpur on Wednesday sentenced one Sambhunath Mallik to life imprisonment after convicting him of raping a minor girl in 2022.
The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1.20 lakh on Mallik. Upon failure to pay the fine Mallik has to undergo imprisonment for another 16 months.
Further, the court ordered the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to pay a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to the rape survivor.
The court awarded the sentence based on depositions recorded by 18 witnesses.
As per the case record, Mallik, a resident of Jajpur police limits had raped a minor girl belonging to the scheduled caste community in 2022.
Mallik had raped the minor girl while she had gone to his betel shop. The minor girl was rescued by her elder sister and taken home. On reaching home the minor girl narrated her ordeal to her mother following which the latter lodged a written complaint at Jajpur police station.
Following the complaint, Mallik was arrested by the police and forwarded to court.
