Berhampur (Odisha), February 13 A special court for crimes against women and children here on Friday sentenced a 26-year-old man to life in prison after finding him guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering a four-year-old boy three years ago.
Additional District Judge (ADJ) and judge of the special court under the POCSO Act, Pranati Pattnaik, sentenced Sukant Sethi to life imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him, along with an additional one-year jail term if he defaults, special public prosecutor Narayan Panda said.
The court also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to pay Rs 2 lakh to the parents of the deceased, considering the seriousness of the offense and the mental trauma they suffered.
The court delivered the judgment after recording the statements of 17 witnesses, including police and doctors, based on medical reports, Panda added.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the roof of a house on January 24, 2023. Both the convict and the victim belonged to the same village under the Dharakote police station area. The convict was a distant relative of the victim, they said.
Police in its chargesheet said the accused killed the boy by hitting him against an iron door after sexually assaulting him, fearing that the victim might reveal the incident to others, officials said.
The boy's father had lodged a complaint at the Dharakote police station on January 24, and the accused was arrested the following day under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act. He has been in jail since his arrest as his bail plea was rejected by the court earlier, Panda added.
