By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:The Fourth Additional District and Sessions Judge, POCSO (POCSO) Court, Bhubaneswar, today delivered a decisive verdict and convicted the accused Vishnu Mohapatra for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old stepdaughter. In the case of TR Case No. 519/2024, created from Balugaon Police Station Case No. 308/2024, the Hon’ble Court has sentenced the accused to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 05 years with a fine of Rs. 10,000/-. In default of payment of the fine, he will have to undergo an additional imprisonment of 06 months. Considering the mental trauma suffered by the minor girl, the court has also ordered to pay compensation of Rs. 1,0,000/- to the victim.
According to the prosecution case, the victim was living in Ganganagar with her mother, Shagag Mohapatra, and the accused. The accused was her mother’s second husband and the younger brother of her late father. The accused had previously had ill intentions towards the said minor girl, for which the victim’s mother had warned her in advance.
On the day of the incident, the victim returned home from school when the complainant (mother) had gone to work. At that time, the accused lured her and took her to the back room. There, he forcibly grabbed the victim from behind, removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her; when she resisted, he pinned her down and threatened to kill her. The accused fled from there due to the courageous resistance and screams of the minor girl. Thereafter, after the mother returned home, the girl narrated all the inhuman incidents that had happened to her, due to which a written police complaint was immediately filed.
The successful conviction was possible due to the meticulous investigation of former Sub-Inspector (SI) of Balugaon Police Sunita Behera and the strong legal presentation of Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) of POCSO Court, Bhubaneswar, Shri Subrata Priyadarshi. By successfully convicting the accused under Sections 75, 76, and 351(3) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Sections 8 and 12 of the POCSO Act, the administration has once again demonstrated its zero-tolerance approach against child abuse. Balugaon Police reiterated its strong commitment to create a safe environment for women and children in the society and to deliver speedy justice.
