Juvenile Justice Board awards 'service' punishment to minor convict

Phulbani: In an exemplary verdict, the Juvenile Justice Board has directed a minor rape convict to serve inmates of Gopabandhu Bal Ashram- an orphanage at Phulbani, for a year.

The court pronounced the sentence while conducting a hearing via video conferencing on Thursday in a case pertaining to molestation of a three-year old girl by the juvenile in Daringibadi of Kandhamal district in 2014.

The minor boy who was lodged at the correctional home in Berhampur, has been shifted to the orphanage. The District Child Protection Officials have been asked to keep a watch on the activities of the juvenile.

He would realise his mistake in future and transform, Public Prosecutor Pratap Patra said.

The boy hailing from Manjulabadi village in Kandhamal district had molested a three-year-old girl in 2014.