Berhampur: Berhampur Additional District and Sessions Court Judge, Justice Indu Sharma sentenced Rajendra Sethi to life imprisonment for murdering Trinath Patra, December 29, 2016. The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict. Failure to pay the fine will lead to an additional six months in prison for the convict.
According to the case diary, Rajendra was originally a resident of Moulabhanaja village under Digapahandi police limits. He had earlier been convicted of murdering his wife while living in Cuttack. He had demanded money from his wife to buy an auto-rickshaw. When she failed to pay the amount, Rajendra had killed her. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime. He spent the time in Chowdwar jail.
After his release, Rajendra settled in K Nuagaon village in Ganjam district and started living with a widow identified as Sobha Nayak. However, he suspected that Sobha was having an affair with Trinath, a guard at the panchayat office.
A few months later, Sobha died under mysterious circumstances. Rajendra suspected that Trinath was responsible for Sobha’s death. So he attacked Trinath with a machete and hacked him to death. Later on acting on a complaint (No – 177/16) lodged by Trinath’s brother, police arrested Rajendra from Cuttack.
During the trial, Rajendra was lodged in the Berhampur circle jail. The judge pronounced the verdict after hearing 10 eye-witnesses and going through the chargesheet, Special Public Prosecutor Gyanendranath Jena, who appeared for the government in the case, said.
