Baripada: A man was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in jail for raping a minor girl in the Baisinga area of Mayurbhanj district.
On Saturday, Mayurbhanj Special POCSO Court Judge Pratima Patra convicted Sahadeb Majhi, alias Henda, of Tikargarhia village under the Baishinga police station. The court also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 60,000; failure to do so would result in an additional one year and six months jail term.
Additionally, the court directed the District Legal Cell Authority to provide Rs 7 lakh in compensation to the victim.
The court pronounced the verdict based on statements from 18 witnesses, medical reports, and police reports.
According to reports, Sahadeb Majhi raped the minor girl and threatened her not to disclose the incident. After her father’s death, she lived with her aunt, and Majhi took advantage of this situation to repeatedly rape her over two months. The girl informed her family about the incident. Instead of taking action, some villagers helped the accused escape.
The family subsequently filed a written complaint at the Baisinga police station, leading to the registration of a case and the recording of the victim’s statement. The police arrested the accused, who has been serving his sentence as an under trial prisoner in the Baripada circle Jail.
