Bhubaneswar: In a significant verdict, a POCSO court in Rourkela sentenced the owner and chairman of Bandhamunda Gyanodaya Vidyalaya, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a former student in 2019.
The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the convict Bibhuti Kumar Gupta. Gupta will have to undergo an additional two-year jail term if the fine amount is not paid.
The case dates back to December 8, 2019, when the victim, a former student, talked to Gupta urging him to relax the tuition fee of her younger brother, who was also a student at the school.
Gupta invited her to his chamber to discuss that matter and took advantage of the situation and raped her. Fearing social stigma, the victim did not report the incident initially.
The victim eventually shared her ordeal with her family two months later following which her family filed a complaint with the Bandhamunda police on February 25, 2020.
Based on the complaint, police registered a rape case and arrested Gupta. After examining 21 witnesses and the evidence gathered during the investigation, the POCSO court convicted Gupta.
