Nayagarh: Nayagarh Children’s Court Tuesday sentenced the prime accused in Pari rape and murder case to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs6,000 on the convict.
“The court held the accused guilty and convicted him under Sections 363, 376AB, 302, 201 of the IPC and Section 6 of the Pocso Act. He has been awarded 20 years RI for rape under sections 376AB IPC and 6 of Pocso Act and 20 years punishment for murder under section 302 IPC. Similarly, he is convicted for three years under section 363 and 201 of the IPC. Conviction terms shall run concurrently. His Under Trial Prisoner (UTP) period will be set off,” a Crime Branch source said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director, Prosecution, Chita Ranjan Kanungo, who was conducting the case on behalf of the state, termed the judgment as the victory of truth. He also commended the efforts of the Crime Branch in collecting adequate evidence for the successful detection of the case.
“As the accused was under 18 years of age, he couldn’t be awarded capital punishment according to law,” he added.
“The investigators conducted thorough investigation using all scientific methods like layered voice analysis test, phycological assessment test, polygraph test, DNA test and forensic examination of blood, semen stain and other available evidence including digital evidence. Some of these tests were conducted by experts from Central Forensics Science Laboratory, New Delhi and State Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar, Gujarat,” a Crime Branch source said.
The five-year-old minor girl had gone missing July 14, 2020 while playing outside her house in Jadupur village in Nayagarh. Her skeletal remains were found concealed under the bushes near a pond on the backside of the house of the accused on July 23, 2020.
Nayagarh police initially investigated the case which was later handed over to Crime Branch November 25, 2020. Later, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted November 28, 2020.
The accused, a neighbour of the victim, was arrested by police December 20, 2020.
PNN & Agencies
