54-year-old man sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping minor girl in Odisha

A 54-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in jail by a special court in Odisha's Ganjam district on Saturday for raping a 12-year-old girl.

The incident happened in September 2020 in Kabisurya Nagar. The man who lived in the same village as the girl had kidnapped her, and raped her multiple times.

Judge Ganeshwar Pati of the special POCSO court in Berhampur also imposed a fine of Rs 95,000 on the convict.

It directed the district legal service authorities to pay Rs 5 lakh to the survivor as compensation, said Special Public Prosecutor Mohan Singari.

The court delivered the verdict after recording statements of 11 witnesses, and examining the survivor's medical reports, he said.

The accused was convicted under various sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.