Phulbani (Odisha), April 9 (PTI) A POCSO court here sentenced a man to 20 years in jail for raping a 17-year-old girl, a government lawyer said on Wednesday.

Public prosecutor Banamali Behera said the judge of the special POCSO court, Kailash Chandra Swain, also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on convict Santa Kumar Pradhan (24).

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The judge ordered that if Pradhan failed to pay the fine, he will remain in custody for another two years.

The judgment was pronounced on the basis of examination of 16 witnesses, Behera added.

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According to the prosecution, Pradhan, who hails from Daringbadi in Kandhamal district, had taken shelter in the house of the victim on a stormy day (July 18, 2016) and raped her when she was alone at home.

Later, following a decision by the village committee, the two were married off in 2021.

Three years later in 2024, Pradhan abandoned his wife on various pretexts, Behera said.

The victim's wife then lodged an FIR with Phiringia police against her husband, following which the accused was arrested.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)