Puri: A lower court here Friday sentenced a man to life imprisonment after convicting him in the sensational rape and murder of a visually-impaired girl near Puri-Konark marine drive here five years ago.
Additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Subhadarshi Patnaik observed that the case did not fall in the category of rarest of the rare case to award death sentence to convict Banamali Barik and awarded him imprisonment for life under Section 302. The judge also imposed a penalty of `10,000 on the convict failing which he will have to undergo additional jail term of six months.
The convict will undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years under Section 366 and pay `1,000 fine and five years jails under Section 364 and `1,000 fine. Similarly, the convict will undergo rigorous imprisonment for 20 years under Section 376 (2)(i)(j)(1) and 376 (A) of IPC and pay a fine of `5,000. Besides, the convict will undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and pay `3,000 fine under Section 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Failure to pay the penalties will attract additional imprisonment. The jail terms shall run concurrently.
The visually-impaired minor girl was raped and brutally murdered in a cashew orchard near Hotel Toshali Sand along Puri-Konark marine drive June 5, 2013. Next day her body was recovered in a pool of blood from the orchard.
The sensational case had shaken the state as it was as heart-wrenching as Nirbhaya case in Delhi. On the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s father, Sadar police had registered a case and arrested Barik during the course of investigation.
The victim’s father had alleged involvement of more than one person in the rape and murder and demanded a CBI inquiry after raising question over police probe. Later, the state government had engaged a senior lawyer for adjudication of the case.
The ADSJ January 11 this year had set January 31 deadline to pronounce the verdict. The court heard the arguments of both parties and convicted the person Thursday.
The minor girl had been staying in Bhubaneswar and studying in Class V at a school meant for visually-impaired. She had gone to her village at Beladala during vacation. On the fateful night of June 5, she went outside to relieve herself when Barik in an inebriated condition took her to the nearby cashew orchard. The convict raped the minor and killed her with a crowbar.
PNN