Sambalpur: A Special POCSO Court here today sentenced a man to 20 years of Rigorous Imprisonment for raping and impregnating a minor girl on the pretext of marriage in 2020 in Odisha's Sambalpur district.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on convict Sameer Kalo alias Chiku of Jaypurgarh village. The court also directed him to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim.

According to reports, Sameer had established physical relation with a 16-year-old girl of Mahulapali area in the district on the pretext of marrying her.

The girl later became pregnant. However, Sameer refused to marry the girl following which she lodged a complaint with the Mahulapali police in May, 2020.

On the basis of the complaint, police had registered a case and arrested him.

Adjudicating the case, the court held Sameer guilty and awarded him the punishment. As many as 13 witnesses were examined during the trial.