Berhampur: A local court here Friday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in the abduction and murder case of a 7-year-old DAV Public School student that had shocked the city in 2019.
Additional District and Sessions Judge-I Naresh Mohanty convicted Debashish Panda, 40, of Jajpur district and imposed a fine of Rs 16,000. The court also directed that he would undergo an additional 13 months of imprisonment in default.
According to the prosecution, Panda had developed a friendship with the victim’s mother through Facebook in 2018 and frequently visited her residence at Sadanand Vihar in Berhampur. Investigators said he was infatuated with the woman and considered her son, Ashish Anshuman, an obstacle.
Panda allegedly took the Class I student to school January 12, 2019, on the pretext of dropping him off, but later abducted and murdered him near the foothills of the Taratarini temple. Police recovered the child’s body, a blood-stained stone allegedly used in the crime and the accused’s shirt during the investigation.
The prosecution examined 26 witnesses during the trial. Panda, who had secured bail from the high court last year, was taken back into custody following the conviction.
