Berhampur (Odisha), March 26 A POCSO court in Odisha's Ganjam district on Thursday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping and murdering his minor sister-in-law three years ago.
Additional district judge-cum-judge of the POCSO court, Pranati Pattnaik, pronounced the verdict after examining the statements of 11 witnesses, said Narayan Panda, special public prosecutor of the court.
The court has also directed the district legal services authority to pay Rs 8 lakh to the family members of the victim as compensation, he said.
The convict has been identified as the brother-in-law of the victim.
He raped and murdered her by strangulation in a nearby forest area under the Buguda police station in Ganjam district on August 17, 2023, police said.
The victim's father had filed a missing person report at the Buguda police station on August 21. During the investigation, police found the body of the 17-year-old girl in the forest area and arrested the convict on August 23.
