Jajpur: Jajpur Additional District & Sessions Judge (POCSO) Court today convicted three persons in a minor girl rape case and awarded them 20 year each jail term.
One Bhagaban Moharana, the prime accused, along with two of his associates – Punam Agarwal and Nirakar Panigrahi- reportedly kidnapped a 16-year-old girl and raped her in 2020 in Sukinda Police Station area of the district.
Sukinda Police had started a probe into the case following a complaint from the victim and forwarded the trio to the court after arresting them.
While conducting a hearing of the kidnap and rape case today, the court convicted the trio based on the statements of the 20 witnesses and warded them 20 years of jail term to each of them.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 3000 on each of them and asked them to spend six more months in the jail in case they fail to pay the fine. The court also directed the District Legal Services Authority to pay a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to the rape victim.