Kendrapada: The additional district judge-cum-special judge (Pocso), Jagatsinghpur, on Saturday sentenced a 28-year-old man to 20 years’ imprisonment for kidnapping and repeatedly raping a 16-year-old girl two years ago. Judge Gargi Patnaik imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict. In default of payment, he will undergo an additional two months’ imprisonment. The court directed Odisha State Legal Services Authority to pay Rs 7 lakh as compensation to the girl.According to the prosecution, the accused kidnapped the girl in Nov 2024 and took her to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, where he allegedly raped her repeatedly for around three weeks. He forcefully married her at a temple two years ago. The victim’s father lodged a complaint at the police station on Dec 12, 2024, alleging that the accused had forcibly taken away his daughter. Acting on the complaint, police launched an investigation and registered a case under various sections and Section 6 of the Pocso Act. Police rescued the girl from Bhubaneswar three weeks after the incident and arrested the accused.During the trial, 23 witnesses, including the victim, deposed before the court. Relying on their evidence and the medical report, the court convicted the accused under Section 6 of the Pocso Act and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment, said special public prosecutor Shiba Prasad Majhi.