An orphanage administrator has been sentenced to prison after he was found guilty of child sexual abuse. 

Mahendranagar-based Mahakali Orphanage director Shankar Bahadur Chand was handed the sentence by the Kanchanpur district court on Wednesday on charges of molestation, rape, and forced abortion.Judge Padam Raj Pandeya found Chand guilty of all three charges levelled against him. 

“Chand has been found guilty of child molestation, rape, and forced abortion,” said District Court registrar Jayanti Awasthi Bhatta. “As per the order of the court, the accused has been ordered to pay Rs50,000 bail on child molestation charges, while he has been pressed with jail terms for the other charges.” 

The Kanchanpur Police Office had arrested Chand last month for allegedly molesting a minor, who had been staying at the orphanage, a year ago. Police said the accused lured his victims by offering them chocolates and special favours. 

The incident came to light after a woman, a relative of one of the children at the orphanage, informed the police about an alleged forced abortion by the accused, police said.The accused had forced a minor at the orphanage to go for abortion, DSP Prakash Dangi said. The victim, a 14-year-old girl who suffered from mental illness, was forcibly given medicines to terminate her pregnancy