A local court Wednesday sentenced three people to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in connection with the rape of a minor girl for four years.

She was raped between 2010 and 2013 during her stay at a short-stay home here, and when she became pregnant, they terminated it.

The Special POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act) court judge Ajanta Sadangi awarded rigorous imprisonment of ten years to the three accused after convicting them.

The convicts were the stay-home's in-charge Goura Chandra Khamari (62), gardener Shyam Patra (42), and warden Mama Behera (33).

While Khamari and Patra raped her a number of times in the Bapuji Seva Sadan at Chandipur, Behera was convicted of abetting the crime. Two other accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Besides the 10-year imprisonment, the convicts were slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000 each. In default, they would have to undergo additional jail term of six months.

The matter came to light when the victim narrated her plights to others during her stay in another short-stay home in February, 2015. The case was probed jointly by Crime Branch and the CID of the Odisha Police.

The three were convicted under various sections of the IPC and the POCSO.

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