Nuapada, August 28: A local court here awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment to a 62-year-old man for sodomising a mentally-challenged boy.
The additional district and sessions judge cum special judge, (POCSO), also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on the convict.
The convict, Sushil Kumbhar, had committed the crime on December 12, 2022 at Duriapada village within Khariar police limits when the victim was aged around 10 years.
The victim is mentally-challenged and speech-impaired following which his mother used to drop and pick him up from school every day. On that day when she along with his cousin sister reached the school to pick him up, she could not find him.
During searching for him, a tenant of the convict informed her that he saw him taking her son into his house and closing the door. Subsequently, when the woman reached Kumbhar’s house, she caught him red-handed sodomising her son. Soon after, the victim’s parents lodged an FIR with police.
The prosecution examined as many as 21 witnesses including the victim and the order was pronounced on Tuesday. During the trial, the court found Kumbhar guilty of all the offences.
The court also recommended the District Legal Services Authority, Nuapada to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the victim under the Victim Compensation Scheme 2017.
