A POSCO court on Wednesday sentenced a former headmaster to 90 years of imprisonment for raping girl of the educational institution in 2015. However, the court ordered the accused to pay a fine of Rs 47,000 and serve a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
He was found guilty under several Sections of IPC and the POCSO Act. In default, he has to spend an additional six months in jail.
The convict, identified as Devanand Patel, had allegedly raped the victims while serving as the headmaster of Raidihi Primary School under Lephripara block of Sundargarh district.
The court observed that the accused used force to disrobe minor girls and rape them on the school premises. Some of his victims belonged to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) community.
Patel was tried in the Additional District Judge and Special POCSO Court of Sundargarh.
The court has also directed the district legal services authority to pay Rs 28 lakh as ex-gratia to the girl students.
