Bhubaneswar: Ten years after the chilling triple murder of a doctor, his assistant and the latter’s minor son in Khandagiri area sent shockwaves across the state, the District and Sessions Court here Friday sentenced the solitary accused to rigorous imprisonment for life. Judge Debasis Rout also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on convict Sneha Swakhyar Samal who will have to undergo one year additional sentence on failure to furnish the amount. The incident dates back to October 14, 2014, when Samal, a medicine representative by profession, walked into the house of the victim, Atulya Meher, an orthopedic surgeon, and stabbed him and two more including his caretaker Prashant Chandra Behera and the latter’s minor son Munu, to death.
On the fateful day, Samal entered Meher’s double-storeyed building in Khandagiri Vihar area in the early hours with a bouquet and a bag in hand. He concealed the murder weapon (a knife) in the bag. Public prosecutor Chandrakant Das said Samal told the caretaker’s wife, Kunu Behera that he wanted to meet Meher and her husband, Prashant. Moments later, Kunu informed Prashant about a man wanting to meet him. Prashant then went downstairs. After a while, Kunu heard loud cries for help coming from the ground floor. When Kunu went down to inquire, she found Prashant, Munu and Meher lying in pools of blood. Kunu too sustained grievous injuries when she put up a fight to stop a fleeing Samal. Upon hearing Kunu’s screams, locals gave Samal a chase and caught hold of him with the bloodstained knife.
Apart from awarding life imprisonment under IPC Section 302, the court also found Samal guilty under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and handed down an additional jail-term of 7 years, and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000, failing which would undergo a jail-term of 6 months. All the sentences run concurrently. Public Prosecutor Sahoo said a total of 26 witnesses were examined in the protracted legal battle in the court which continued for nearly a decade. Kunu is a home guard, presently posted in Khandagiri Police Station, while Meher’s widow is now living in the US with her elder daughter.
