After Four Years, Two Accused In Gangrape Case Sentenced To 20 Years In Jail

Odisha Rape Case: In Odisha's Nayagarh district, a local court sentenced 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) to two men for raping a 14-year-old girl. The crime took place in 2017 when the convicts were minors.

The two men were convicted under Indian Penal Code section 376 (D) on Monday. Itishree Mohapatra, the Special Judge of Children Court slapped a fine of ₹50,000 on each convict in addition to the 20-year jail term.

Judge Mohaptra ordered that in case the convicts are unable to pay the penalty fee, they will have to go through another two years of imprisonment each.

Odisha Rape Case:

On April 2, 2017, a girl who was then studying in class 10 had gone to a bank in Nayagarh district to receive monetary assistance given under the Chief Minister Bicycle Scheme. She was with her 15-year-old classmate who lived in the same village as the girl.

On their way back to the village, the convicts (then aged 16) met with the girl and her friend and insisted on visiting a temple before going back to their village. The convicts also hailed from the same village.

After showing some reluctance, the girl reportedly joined the convicts. After reaching the temple, the two minor men took the girl to an isolated hill and raped her. One of the accused persons also videographer the whole incident and later uploaded it online.

As per a report by Hindu, the accused and their family members then tried to persuade the survivor and her family by proposing marriage. This happened at a village committee meeting in order to make the survivor's family compromise.

The three men were then charged under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act (POSCO). Additional Public Prosecutor in Nayagarh, Amiya Patnaik gave his statement, "The Juvenile Justice Board had earlier awarded three years of imprisonment to her classmate. The other two accused were tried as adults. "

"As per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, children in the age group 16-18 can be tried as adults if they are alleged to have committed a heinous offence," he added.

He also revealed that a psychologist had conducted tests on the two accused who were aged 16 and certified that they were capable of committing the crime. During the deposition of the case, a total of 10 witnesses were presented, as per reports.

The Public Prosecutor added that the court sentenced two years of imprisonment in addition to a ₹2,000 penalty for circulating the video of the assaulted online.