25-year-old sentenced to 20 years in jail for kidnapping, raping minor

Kendrapada: The additional district judge-cum-special Pocso court in Jagatsinghpur on Tuesday sentenced a 25-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and repeatedly raping a 16-year-old girl in 2023.The court, presided over by judge Gargi Patnaik, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict. In default of payment, he will have to undergo an additional six months of imprisonment. The court further directed Odisha State Legal Services Authority to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the survivor.According to the prosecution, the victim, then a Class X student, was abducted from her house on the night of June 30, 2023, while she was sleeping alone in a room.

Her mother lodged an FIR at the local police station on July 1, alleging that the accused, who was their neighbour, kidnapped her daughter.Following the complaint, police launched an investigation, traced the accused to Hyderabad, rescued the girl and arrested him a week after the incident. He was subsequently charged with kidnapping and raping the minor.The court convicted the accused under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction to compel marriage or illicit intercourse) and 376(2)(n) (repeated rape) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.“The conviction was based on the testimony of 25 prosecution witnesses, including the survivor, as well as medical evidence presented before the court,” said Shiba Prasad Majhi, special public prosecutor of the court.