Court grants Rs 6L compensation to rape survivor

Cuttack: A special Pocso court here Tuesday awarded Rs 6 lakh compensation to a six-year-old rape survivor, while sentencing the accused to rigorous imprisonment for life. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the 65-year-old convict.

Citing Supreme Court guidelines, residing Judge Sunita Pattanaik said: "Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the age of the victim, the ramification of the crime committed against her this court is of the considered opinion that an award of Rs six lakh will serve the purpose of justice."

The judge further specified that the awarded compensation amount shall be deposited in the girl's name in the shape of a term deposit in a nationalised bank for a period of six years.

The incident took place on Feb 9, 2022 in Cuttack district. The man had raped the six-year-old girl after taking her to his house. While FIR was registered on Feb 9, 2022 by the girl's mother, the man was arrested on the same day and has since been in custody. The chargesheet was filed on April 9, 2022, the charges framed on Feb 20, 2023.

Special public prosecutors (Pocso) Ramesh Chandra Mohanty and Biswajit Ray, who presented the prosecution case, said 19 witnesses and 12 documents, including a medical report were examined by the court.