Baripada: The Special POCSO Court here today sentenced a 31-year-old youth to 10 years imprisonment after convicting him of raping a minor girl.
Special POCSO Judge Sumita Jena sentenced Guru Prasad Murmu(31) of Niranjan village under Rairangpur (Rural) police limits to 10 years in jail for abducting a minor girl from Sungadia area under Baripada Town police limits in 2015 and then subjecting her to rape multiple times.
The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 7,000 on Murmu. The court has ruled that on failure to pay the fine, Murmu has to undergo additional imprisonment for three months.
The court has ordered the District Legal Services Authority to pay assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the victim.
According to proceedings of the case, Murmu had befriended a widow from Sunagadia area under Baripada Town police limits while she was undergoing treatment at a hospital.
On March 5, 2015, Murmu abducted the widow’s minor daughter. After failing to trace her daughter despite a frantic and thorough search, the woman lodged a written complaint at the Town police station following which a case was registered.
Murmu had stayed in hiding at different places and during the stay had raped the minor girl multiple times.
Police after rescuing the minor girl arrested Murmu and forwarded him to court.
The court ordered the sentence after examining the statements of 14 witnesses, medical and police reports.
