Rourkela: A special Pocso court in Sundargarh on Monday sentenced a man (31) to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting and threatening a minor girl.The court also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to provide a compensation of Rs 8 lakh to the rape survivor.Additional district judge-cum-presiding officer of the Pocso court, Gyana Ranjan Patnaik, convicted the man after examining witnesses and evidence in the case. Besides the prison term, the court imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him. In case of default of payment, the convict will have to undergo an additional year of rigorous imprisonment.According to the prosecution, the case came to light on March 2, 2024, when the child’s mother lodged an FIR alleging that their neighbour had been sending obscene videos to her daughter’s phone. During questioning, the minor disclosed that the convict had been showing her explicit content and sexually assaulting her for years.The rape survivor told her mother that the convict would allegedly call her to his house when other family members were away and sexually abuse her. She further alleged that he threatened to kill her and her mother if she disclosed the matter.Following the complaint, police arrested him and he has remained in judicial custody since then.The prosecution stated that the survivor was a Class III student when the case was reported. The abuse had allegedly begun when she was studying in a lower class.Special public prosecutor Prabhat Kumar Nanda represented the state during the trial.
