A Pocso court here on Wednesday sentenced a man to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a two-and-a-half-year-old girl in 2024. Adhoc Additional Sessions Judge (Pocso), Bhubaneswar, Saroj Kumar Sahoo pronounced the judgment after examining statements from 13 witnesses and 84 documents. The court also imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on the convict, Santosh Khuntia, the government counsel said.
If the fine is not paid, the convict will undergo an additional six months in jail, the court ordered.
The court has recommended that the district legal services authority, Khurda, to provide a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the victim. According to police, the incident occurred in June 2024 in the Airfield police station area. When the victim was playing in front of her home, the 24-year-old convict lured the child and took her to his home. Khuntia committed rape on the minor.
Later, on June 30, 2024, the victim's mother lodged a complaint at the Airfield police station. The police immediately arrested Khuntia and produced him before the concerned court, they said.
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