Odisha man sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping minor daughter

Bhubaneswar: A POCSO court today awarded 20 years in jail to a man for raping his minor daughter in Bhubaneswar.

Hearing a case today, the Adhoc Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Special Court (POCSO), Bhubaneswar, convicted C. Siba Patra, aged about 57 from Ganjam district, of raping his 10-year-old daughter in 2018.

As per the court order, the convict will undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 20 years and pay Rs 10,000 fine, in default, to undergo RI for a further period of one year.

He was convicted under sections 376(2)(i)/376(2)(f) of the IPC and section 6 of the POCSO Act.

According to reports, the convict was staying with his family including his wife and two daughters at a slum area under Capital police limits in Bhubaneswar. On April 6, 2018, his wife delivered a girl child. Due to health complications post-delivery, she remained admitted to the Capital Hospital. The victim and her 12-year-old sister were staying with their father.

On April 16, 2018, night the father started abusing his 10-year-old daughter sexually while they were sleeping. The victim started crying out of pain. When her sister woke up, the victim narrated about the occurrence. The sisters duo found their father was sleeping naked. During the night, both the sisters went to the house of their relative for shelter. The elder sister informed to the relative about the sexual assault on her sibling. The two sisters were rescued by the Capital Police and produced before the Child Welfare Committee.

After registration of a case at the Capital Police Station, the accused was arrested on April 18, 2018.