Keonjhar: A designated POCSO court in Keonjhar district awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment to a man after convicting him in a 2017 minor girl rape case.

Along with 20-year imprisonment, the convict Bijay Kumar Maharana was slapped with Rs 50,000 fine for the crime.

The court also directed the administration to provide Rs 7.50 lakh compensation to the rape survivor.

According to reports, two youth forcibly had lifted a minor girl on a motorcycle while she was going to a market in Barbil area in 2017. They took her to a nearby forest where the two and one of their associates raped her entire night. The victim managed to flee from their clutches and reported the matter to her parents.

While one accused was arrested in the case, two others are still at large.

Hearing the case, the POCSO court pronounced the quantum of punishment for the convict based on statements of 14 witnesses.