A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court on Saturday awarded 10 years’ imprisonment to a man for raping a minor girl in Bhadrak district in September 2013.
The court pronounced the sentence after convicting Sapan Parida alias Rabindra of Paikasahi village under the Dhamra Marine police station under Section 4 of the POCSO Act and Section 376 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
As per the complaint, Sapan and his associate Ranjan Parida had forcibly entered the girl’s house when her family members were away on September 24, 2013 and raped her. After the girl narrated the incident to her family members, her father filed a complaint at the Dhamra Marine police station next day.
Based on the complaint, police arrested Sapan and Ranjan. However, Ranjan was released on bail a few days later. The court acquitted Ranjan due to lack of evidence while sentencing Sapan.