India News | Odisha: Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Jail for Raping Mentally Challenged Girl

Balasore, Feb 10 (PTI) A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in jail by a court in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday for raping a mentally challenged girl.

A fine of Rs 10,000 was also imposed on the man by the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court of special judge Ranjan Kumar Sutar.

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The man was arrested in March last year after a police complaint was filed by an NGO, which got to know about the 14-year-old girl after she got pregnant, the prosecution said.

The complaint was lodged after the girl narrated the horror to activists of the NGO during counselling sessions. The accused is a neighbour of the girl.

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The name of the convict is also being withheld in this report to protect the identity of the survivor who lives in the same village.

"The police arrested the accused after an investigation. The court pronounced the verdict on the basis of 10 witnesses and 20 exhibits," said Special Public Prosecutor Pranab Kumar Panda.

The court also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to give the survivor Rs 4 lakh as compensation, Panda said.

(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)