Jajpur: A designated POCSO court today sentenced four youths to 20-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) each for their involvement in gangraping a minor girl at a place under Kaliapani police limits in Jajpur district, in 2021. The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 4 Lakh on them.

The convict will undergo imprisonment for an additional term of six months, in case they fail to remit the penalty amount, the POCSO court ordered.

The convicted persons are Satyabrata Behera (24), Rabi Nayak (24), Santosh Prusty (23), and Umesh Mahanta (48). They hail from Tata Mines Colony in the district.

According to an official source, the gangrape survivor was then a student of Plus II classes. She had been returning home after spending some time with her male friend in the mine area on the intervening evening (March 7, 2021). They were passing through a forest area when the duo was intercepted.

The four convicts had overpowered the minor girl’s male friend and later gangraped her.