Brahmapur: A fast-track POCSO court here Tuesday sentenced a man to death for killing his neice by setting her on fire in Odisha’s Ganjam district in 2022.
Fast-track court judge Rohit Lal Panda observed the case falls under the rarest of rare category and sentenced the convict, identified as Sipirian Digal, 65, of Pirigada in Kandhamal district, to be hanged till death, said Siba Prasad Mishra, special public prosecutor of the court.
The court’s death sentence needs to be ratified by the state High Court, he said.
The incident took place April 25 2022 in the deceased’s house at Bidyanagar, when the convict set his 12-year-old niece on fire after pouring kerosene. A case of rape and murder was registered at the Baidyanathpur police station here the next day. The accused was arrested on April 26, 2022, according to the prosecution.
The court pronounced the death sentence to the accused after recording the statements of 13 witnesses, including the doctors and police, said Mishra.
He said the court convicted the accused Monday, while the punishment was awarded Tuesday.
Digal was earlier arrested by the Kandhamal police for killing his wife. He murdered his niece after coming on bail, police sources said.