Baripada (Odisha), May 3 (PTI) A local court in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district on Saturday sentenced a 25-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy.

The judgment was delivered by Judge Santosh Kumar Nayak of the Fast Track Special Court under POCSO Act.

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The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on convict Raghunath Murmu, said Special Public Prosecutor Manaranjan Pattnaik.

If the convict fails to pay the fine, he will remain in jail for another year, the court said.

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The court also directed Mayurbhanj District Legal Services Authority Secretary to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to the victim's family.

The judgment was based on the statement of victim, five witnesses and medical report, Pattnaik said, adding that the incident took place on January 12, 2025, when the child was alone in his house.

According to police, Murmu lured the child with chocolates and took him to a nearby forest where he sexually assaulted him.

(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)