A local court in Keonjhar district of Odisha on Thursday awarded 20 years' rigorous imprisonment to two persons for gang-raping a tribal woman in February last year.

The Champua Additional District and Sessions Court Judge awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 to Biswanath Gop and Deven Munda.

"Hearing the gang-rape case, the judge pronounced 20 years' rigorous imprisonment to both under Section 376(b), three years' jail term for trespassing under Section 457, one year for intimidation and threatening to kill under Section 506 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) concurrent with the 20-year jail term," Public Prosecutor Madhusudan Pati said.

Notably, the victim, who was orphan as well as estranged from her husband, had lodged a case in February, 2016 against the duo alleging that she was repeatedly raped by both of them.

The heinous act was meted out when the victim had taken shelter at accused Biswanath Gop's house, said Pati.

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