A special court in Bhagalpur on Friday awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012, to a 22-year-old for sexually assaulting a four-year-old.

The special court headed by additional district and sessions judge (I) Shivanand Mishra found Ravi Kapoor alias Rinku Kapoor guilty of raping the child on February 14, 2016.

Bhagalpur special public prosecutor S. Jaikishan Mandal said the court imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on Ravi. If Ravi does not pay up, he will have to serve an additional four months in jail.

Police arrested Ravi, a resident of Sultanganj in Bhagalpur district around 250km east of Patna, was arrested after the girl's father lodged a complaint against him.

According to the prosecution, Ravi assaulted the little girl around 7pm on February 14, 2016, when she was playing in her locality. Ravi lured the child on the pretext of giving her a toffee.

He was caught and handed over to the police.

Ravi was booked under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and 8 (sexual assault) of the Pocso Act. In an in-camera hearing, the child deposed before the court and identified Ravi.

During trial, all seven witnesses corroborated the charge against Ravi. Ravi was sent to Bhagalpur Central Jail on Friday.

On Thursday, a special Pocso court in Patna had sentenced two septuagenarians to 10 years in jail for sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl on December 20, 2014.

Pocso courts have been set up in all 38 districts of the state to conduct speedy trial of the cases related to sexual assault on minors.