Man gets 20-yr RI for sodomising minor

Keonjhar: Additional district-cum-special Pocso court in Keonjhar sentenced a 23-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sodomising a 7-year-old boy.
Judge Monalisa Mohanty also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on the convict, with an additional year of imprisonment in case of default.
The incident occurred on Sept 15, 2019, when the boy had accompanied his father to his maternal grandmother's house and later to a weekly market. The convict, who was known to the family, offered to take the child, who was crying, home around 5:30 pm.
Instead of taking the minor home, the accused allegedly took him to a nearby bush and sexually assaulted him. The father, upon returning from the market and not finding his son at home, began searching and found the child naked near the bush. The convict fled the scene. The traumatised child narrated the incident to his father, who subsequently filed a police complaint.
Special public prosecutor Ganesh Prasad Mohapatra said, "The court's verdict was based on the testimonies from 15 witnesses and police investigation reports."
He added that the judge has recommended the district legal services authority to provide a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victim.