Odisha man sentenced to 23 years in jail for raping minor daughter 

A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court sentenced a man to 23 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his minor daughter in Balasore. 

The POCSO special court judge Ranjan Kumar Sutar also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict and said if the accused did not pay the fine, he would undergo another imprisonment of two years.  

The court further directed the State government to pay Rs 4 lakh to the survivor as assistance from the Child Welfare Fund. 

The case pertains to the crime that occurred at a village under Raj-Berhampur police limits under Nilgiri block in Balasore district on April 19, 2020. 

On the fateful day, the survivor's mother was away at her workplace. It was afternoon time. The minor girl, the middle daughter in the family, was in the house with her father Rabindra Bentkar. 

Finding his daughter alone, Rabindra forced himself on her. In the evening, the girl's mother returned home and heard everything about what had happened from her daughter. 

When confronted, Rabindra confessed to having committed the crime and persuaded his wife to conceal the incident. But she refused to obey her husband. At this, Rabindra got infuriated and threatened to kill her. 

Fearing for her and her daughter’s lives, she left the house and lodged a complaint at Raj Berhampur police station. 

Acting on the complaint of the victim’s mother, the police had then arrested the accused father.