Phulbani (Odisha), Dec 26 (PTI) A local court in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Thursday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping a minor girl.

Rajesh Kumar Das, the additional district court-cum-POCSO court judge, Phulbani, sentenced Mahasek Muthamajhi to 20 years RI and imposed a penalty of Rs 45,000. In case the convict failed to pay the penalty, he would have to undergo another 11 months of imprisonment, the judge ordered.

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The court also directed the district legal services authority ( DLSA) Kandhamal to pay Rs 5 lakh to the girl's family as compensation, Asim Kumar Praharaj, special public prosecutor of the court, said.

According to the prosecution, the accused had lured the girl from her sister's home at Bondaguda under Kotagarh police station in May 2018 when she had gone there to spend her holidays and raped her.

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The victim's family lodged a missing complaint with Kotagarh police, leading to the arrest of Mahasek under various sections of the POCSO Act.

As many as 12 witnesses were examined in connection to the case and the judgment was pronounced on Thursday, Praharaj said.

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