Sambalpur: A former school van driver was sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) on Thursday for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student of a private school in Sambalpur district two years ago. The sentencing was pronounced by the district’s special Pocso court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict. If he fails to pay the amount, he will serve an additional term of six months in prison. Additionally, he was sentenced to two years of RI and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 12 of the Pocso Act. In default of the fine, he will serve further imprisonment of one month. Both the sentences will run concurrently.
According to the reports, the incident took place on August 17, 2022. The convict, Himanshu Kisan (45), dropped all students of the private school on his van to their homes except the 12-year-old. He forcibly took the girl to his home and assaulted her there. Later in the evening, he dropped the girl near her house.
The girl later told her parents, who filed a case against the driver at Mahulpali police station.
The judgement was delivered by special judge (Pocso) Abhilash Senapati after recording the testimonies of 12 witnesses. The case was represented by special public prosecutor Santosh Panda.