Jajpur: A man and his wife were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Odisha’s Jajpur district Saturday for murdering their 15-year-old daughter after finding out her pregnancy from a relationship that was not acceptable to the family.
The Fast Track Special Court also imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the convicts.
The incident had taken place in a village in the Binjharpur police station area in 2016.
The identities of the convicts are being withheld as the victim was a minor.
The girl, then a class 10 student, was in a relationship with a married man from her village. After her parents found out, they tried to persuade her to break up, but she did not listen to them, according to the prosecution.
They allegedly strangled their daughter in her sleep as they believed that she brought “dishonour” to the family. They then discreetly cremated her body and dumped her remains in a nearby river.
The father was arrested after the village head, finding out what had happened, lodged a police complaint. The father confessed to the murder, following which the mother was also arrested, the prosecution said.
The court gave the verdict on the basis of the statements of three witnesses and other evidence.
PTI
