Odisha: 2 men sentenced to 20 years RI for raping minor on pretext of driving away evil spirits

Tirtol: Two persons were sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) today by a fast-track POCSO court for raping a 14-year-old girl on the pretext of driving away evil spirits at a village under Tirtol police limits in Jagatsinghpur district.

The two were imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 each by the ADJ-cum-Special POCSO court and were ordered to undergo additional imprisonment for nine months in case they failed to pay the fine amount, the court of Justice Ajay Kumar Mohanty further ordered.

District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in Jagatsinghpur was ordered by the fast track court to pay the victim girl a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

The convicts were identified as Akshaya Kumar Nayak alias Maina Baba and his aide Prabhat Mallik.

According to a source, the rape survivor was a student of Class IX. She previously became sick in 2016. As she did not get cured for quite long days despite being given medical treatment, the girl’s family took her to the convicts to perform sorcery on the intervening day (July 16).

The 64-year-old sorcerer and his aide had gone to the minor’s house and they stayed there the entire night. On the pretext of driving away evil spirits, the duo outraged the modesty of the girl.

Tirtol police had earlier registered a case (No-252/2016) in this connection and launched a probe.