Cuttack, Jan 23 (PTI) A man was sentenced to imprisonment till death and his wife sent to jail for 20 years by a court in Odisha's Cuttack for kidnapping and raping a 10-year-old girl.

Amit Bindhani (45) kidnapped the girl from a slum here with the help of his wife Asha Lohar, as per the prosecution.

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The couple had taken the girl to Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. There, Amit raped the girl repeatedly for nearly eight days before the couple was apprehended by police and the child rescued, the prosecution said.

The incident happened in July 2019.

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A POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court on Saturday sentenced Amit to imprisonment till death and his wife Asha to 20 years in jail.

The couple was convicted after examination of 12 witnesses and over 20 exhibits.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Asha and in case of non-payment, she will undergo imprisonment for another six months.

The court directed that a compensation of Rs 5 lakh be given to the girl.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)