A man was today (30) sentenced to 17 years of hard labour for the rape of a woman at Pitawalgoda in Yakkala ten years ago.

Gampaha high court judge Nimal Ranaweera also imposed a Rs. 25,000 fine and ordered a Rs. 200,000 compensation to the aggrieved party.

Failure to do so will add 23 more months to the convict’s prison term.

The then 47-year-old mother of one had been walking back home in a paddy field from her garment job  in Kadawatha in July 2010, when she was raped and her gold chain snatched.