Odisha: POCSO court sentences 6 youths to 20 years’ RI for raping minor

A POCSO court in Ganjam, Odisha, sentenced six men to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment and fines for gang-raping a 17-year-old girl. The victim will receive Rs 15 lakh compensation under the state’s victim compensation scheme

Berhampur: A POCSO court in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Friday sentenced six men to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for the gang-rape of a girl in Baidyanathpur police station area, special public prosecutor Narayan Panda said.

Additional District Judge-cum-POCSO court judge Pranati Pattnaik also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of the convicts, aged between 20 and 27 years, he added.

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They will have to serve jail for another six months if they fail to pay the fine, he said.

The convicts are from Aska, Beguniapada, Purushottampur, Khallikote and Sorada police station areas, Panda said.

The court also directed the district legal services authorities to pay Rs 15 lakh to the survivor under the victim compensation scheme. The entire fine amount, once recovered from the convicts, will also be paid to the victim, he said.

The public prosecutor said the court pronounced the judgment after recording the statements of 13 witnesses and based on medical reports.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on May 3, 2024, when one of the accused allegedly lured the 17-year-old girl from the New Bus Stand area on the false pretext of introducing her to his mother.

Instead, he took her to a boys’ hostel and gave her some intoxicated drinks, following which she became unconscious.

The convicts then switched off the room’s lights and gangraped her for several hours. Later, they dumped the girl near her home and warned her not to inform police.

She later lodged a complaint at Baidyanathpur police station on May 5, following which a case under the POCSO Act was registered.

The convicts were in jail since their arrest, as the court had rejected their bail pleas earlier, they said.