Bhubaneswar: A Fast Track Special Court in Odisha has sentenced a 24-year-old man to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment for the rape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl. Delivering the verdict, Ad-hoc Additional Sessions Judge Saroj Kumar Sahoo found the accused, Kanha alias Santosh Khuntia, guilty under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.The incident was reported from Panchagaon area on 30 June, 2024. According to the prosecution, the victim’s maternal grandfather was holding the crying child when Khuntia, a neighbour, approached them, fondled her cheek, and lured her away to his house under the pretext of giving her a guava. When the toddler did not return after 15 to 20 minutes, the grandfather sent the child’s mother to locate her.Upon arriving at the neighbour’s house, the mother found the door locked from inside. She requested the accused’s cousin sister to push the door open. Inside, the mother discovered Khuntia hiding under a wooden cot wearing a blood-stained towel, while the little girl lay unconscious on the bed, bleeding severely from her private party.The defense submitted that the prosecution did not bring out a chemical examination report to prove the presence of blood on the clothes Khuntia was wearing when he was arrested but the court dismissed the argument saying that the crime was committed on June 30 and the accused was arrested by the police on July 2. The judge remarked it was highly improbable that the accused would still be wearing the exact same clothes days after the incident.The court relied on strong and consistent testimony from the child’s mother and grandfather and on conclusive medical and scientific evidence. The medical officer who examined the child confirmed that the injuries sustained by the toddler were consistent with forcible sexual intercourse. The birth records corroborated the child’s age at the time of the crime, showing that he was 2 years, 8 months and 17 days old. The court also ordered a compensation of ₹5 lakh to be paid to the child, in addition to the 30-year prison sentence. This order is in keeping with the Odisha Victim Compensation Scheme and the Supreme Court’s guidelines on rehabilitation.
