Bhubneshwar (Odisha), July 20: A lower
court in Odisha awarded two youths to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI)
each in a 2017 gang rape case of a 14-year-old girl.
Both the accused were minors when they
committed the crime in Nayagarh district of the state.
After convicting the
two persons under Section 376 (D) of the Indian Penal Code (gang-rape), Special
Judge of Children Court Nayagarh Itishree Mohapatra on Monday handed out a
punishment of 20 years of RI and slapped a fine of ₹ 50,000 on each of them.
Upon failure to pay
the penalty, the convicts will have to undergo another two years of
imprisonment each, Justice Ms Mohapatra said while delivering the judgment.
The incident took
place on April 2, 2017, when the girl, who was studying in Class X, had gone to
a bank in Nayagarh district to inquire about the receipt of monetary assistance
under Chief Minister Bicycle Scheme with her classmate, who was then 15. The
boy hailed from the victim’s village, a local media report quoting local police
said.
,
When they were about
to return to their village, two other boys (then 16), who were also from the
same village, met them. The three boys insisted that they should go to a nearby
temple before returning home.
Though the girl was
initially reluctant, she agreed to accompany them on their insistence. Finding
no one at the temple, the three minors took the girl to an isolated place on
the hill and raped her. One of the accused filmed the incident and later
circulated it online.
Subsequently, the
accused and their family members tried to win over the victim and her family by
proposing marriage as part of a compromise formula at a village committee
meeting. However, their intention was to allegedly delay the matter.
The accused were
charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,
2012. “The Juvenile Justice Board had earlier awarded three years of
imprisonment to her classmate. The other two accused were tried as adults. As
per 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,” said Amiya Patnaik, Additional Public Prosecutor
in Nayagarh.
“A psychologist had
also conducted tests on the two offenders and certified that they were capable
of committing a crime. Altogether 10 witnesses deposed during the trial,” said
Patnaik, the public prosecutor.
He said the court also
pronounced a sentence of two years of imprisonment and a penalty of ₹2,000 each for uploading the rape incident on the internet.