Baripada, Mar 20:  A Special POCSO Court here in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a divyang minor girl in 2019.

The convict was identified as Mahadev Singh of Kundalbani village under Baripada Sadar police station limits in the district.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Mahadev Singh, and in case of default, he has to remain in jail for another six months.

According to Special Public Prosecutor Monoranjan Pattnaik,  Mahadev on June 26, 2019 found the minor girl alone at her house. Taking adnvantage of this, Mahadev dragged the girl from her residence to a nearby place and raped her.

Hearing the girl's screams, her aunt rushed to the spot and tried to rescue the girl but in vain as Mahadev attacked her with stones.

Later, the family members lodged a complaint against Mahadev on the same day following which he was arrested and forwarded to the court.

The court found the accused guilty of the offence of rape and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 20 years. The judgement was based on the statement of 30 witnesses and a medical report, Pattnaik said.

The court also directed the Mayurbhanj District Legal Services Authority to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the victim.

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