Man gets life imprisonment for raping 4-year-old girl

Kendrapada: A Jagatsinghpur court on Wednesday sentenced a 61-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping a 4-year-old girl two years ago.Additional district-cum-special pocso court judge Gargi Patnaik also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, failure to pay which would result in his sentence being increased by six months.

The court directed the Odisha State Legal Services Authority to pay a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to the survivor’s family.As per the prosecution’s case, the convict, who lived nearby, dragged the sleeping child to an orchard and raped her on the night of July 27, 2023. He threatened to kill her and harm her family if she disclosed about the crime. However, she narrated the ordeal to her parents, prompting her father to lodge an FIR.The survivor’s medical exam confirmed sexual assault. She was first admitted to a local hospital and later to a hospital in Cuttack as her condition worsened. She required three months of treatment before she could return home. Police arrested the man after investigation. He was charged under Section 70(2) (where a woman under 18 years is raped) of BNS and sections 4 and 6 of the Pocso Act, 2012.“As many as 29 witnesses, including the girl, deposed before the court. After relying on the evidence of the witnesses and the medical report, the court convicted the accused to life imprisonment,” said Shiba Prasad Majhi, public prosecutor.