Sambalpur: A Pocso court in Sambalpur district on Friday awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment to a woman for engaging a 17-year-old girl in sex business. The convict was identified as Sunita Makar (40) from a village under Kuchinda police station in Sambalpur district.
According to reports, the survivor girl from Jharsuguda district lost her mother in 2014. Following this, her father married another woman and settled in Kuchinda town. The stepmother of the girl fought with her and threw her out of the house. When the girl was roaming near Kuchinda bus stand, the accused woman faked sympathy and asked the girl to come with her to stay in their house. In return, the girl had to do household chores. The girl agreed and went with her.
After some days, the woman, along with her husband and two others, forced the girl into prostitution and earned money from it for two months. On Jan 15, 2015, the girl was found crying by Childline officials, who filed a police complaint. Police charged the woman and her husband as per the written complaint.
The Pocso court levied a fine of Rs 10,000 under relevant sections of the Pocso Act. The judgment was delivered by special judge (Pocso) Abhilash Senapati after recording the testimonies of 17 witnesses. Special public prosecutor Santosh Panda said the husband of the convict woman is yet to be arrested.