Odisha: Four get life imprisonment in murder case

Bhubaneswar, March 25 (IANS) A local court in Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, on Tuesday sentenced four members of a family to life imprisonment for killing a youth in the Jatni area of the city over past enmity in 2017.

The convicts were identified as Halu Behera and his son Gopinath Behera, Nalu Behera and his son Mrunal Behera alias Kanha of Shandhapur village under Jatni police limits.

As per reports, the convict Kanha used to pass lewd comments at the sister of the deceased Anup Behera, which often led to heated arguments between both families. They were also engaged in a fight just 10 to 15 days before the ghastly murder took place.

Later, the family members of Kanha hatched a plan to murder Anup, who used to oppose Kanha the most. Deceased Anup’s brother Swarup had a beetle shop near their village. On September 2, 2017, when Anup was going to their shop to sleep there, the four convicts, along with their other family members, intercepted his two-wheeler and started assaulting him with sharp weapons. The convicts also severely assaulted the family members of Anup when they rushed to his rescue.

Upon being informed, the police reached the spot and sent the injured persons to the hospital. Anup later succumbed to the injuries while undergoing treatment at the Capital Hospital. Subsequently, police arrested the accused persons involved in the brutal murder by registering a case in this regard on September 3, 2017.

The court on Tuesday pronounced the judgement based on the statements of witnesses and the investigation report.

In another significant development, the special POCSO court in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday sentenced a person to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl under Chandrasekharpur police station area of the city in 2019.

On May 25, 2019, the convict Bunty Sahoo, a driver, made the victim unconscious by spraying some chemicals on her face and later sexually abused the minor at an isolated place near the accused’s rental accommodation.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim’s father, police arrested the accused, registering a case in this regard on May 26, 2019. The court, after examining the statements of witnesses and evidence produced during the trial, pronounced the judgment on Tuesday.

–IANS

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