Phulbani, Jul 7 (PTI) A court in Odisha's Kandhamal district sentenced a 22-year-old man to life imprisonment on Thursday for raping and murdering a minor girl five years ago.

Phulbani special Pocso judge Bhaskar Chandra Sahu also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on Babula Mallick, out of which Rs 1 lakh will be paid to the deceased's kin, special public prosecutor Banamali Behera said.

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In June 2017, the accused had lured the 12-year-old girl to a village under Tikabali police station area and spent some days there. Later, when the girl was repeatedly forcing him to marry her, Mallick took her to a mountainside on the pretext of evening walk one day and strangled her. The body of the girl was dumped in a nearby ditch.

As many as 25 witnesses were examined in connection to the case.

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(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)