Man sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping Odisha girl

Balasore (Odisha), Feb 17  A man in Odisha’s Balasore district was sentenced to 20 years in jail on Monday for raping a 14-year-old girl in 2017.

Special POCSO court and additional sessions judge Girija Prasad Mohapatra convicted Augusta Singh in the rape case and sentenced him to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment, besides slapping a fine of Rs 30,000.

In case of a default, he has to undergo another 13 months in jail.

Singh (28), a resident of Raghupur in Baisinga police station area of Mayurbhanj district, had kidnapped the girl and raped her on August 15, 2017, according to the case report.

He was arrested after a police complaint was lodged by the girl’s father in Simulia police station in Balasore district.

It was a ‘red flag case’ and was handed over to the Crime Branch of the CID for investigations, said special public prosecutor Pranab Panda.

“The convict is sentenced to different terms for crimes under different sections of the IPC. Since they would run concurrently he has to undergo 20 years of imprisonment.

The court pronounced the judgment after cross-examining 13 witnesses and verifying 28 exhibited documents,” he said.