Berhampur: : A fast track court in Phulbani on Tuesday sentenced a 36-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl about six months ago inside a forest in Kandhamal district.Kailash Chandra Swain, the additional district judge-cum-judge of the fast track special court (FTSC) also imposed Rs 20,000 fine on the convict. The accused will have to be in jail for two more years, if he fails to pay the fine, said special public prosecutor Raj Kumar Behera.The court has also directed the district legal service (DLS) authorities to pay Rs 5 lakh to the girl under the victim compensation scheme. The court pronounced the judgment after recording the statements of 16 witnesses, including police, medical officer and, based on the medical reports and seized articles, he said. The court delivered its verdict in the six months of occurrence of the incident on Oct 19, last year, he said.Sources said the accused had taken the victim from her house, assuring to go to a market to purchase shoe for her as her parents had given him the money to do so. As her parents were working in Tamil Nadu, the girl believed him and went with him on his motorcycle.Instead of going to the town, he took her into the nearby jungle and raped her three times at knife point. After committing the crime, he left her in the village. The girl told her parents and aunt about the incident and aunt. Her aunt lodged a complaint against the accused. The accused was housed in the jail since his arrest, as his bail pleas were rejected by the court.
