Baliguda: A local court sentenced a temple priest to rigorous life imprisonment after convicting him of killing a villager who objected to his extramarital affair with a widow, Thursday. The convict was identified as Akshaya Rana, a priest of Kali temple in nearby Pasara village under Chakapada police limits of Kandhamal district. The additional district judge Baliguda, Dillip Kumar Biswal, also slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the convict apart from the punishment and acquitted the widow for want of sufficient evidence.
Additional public prosecutor Sudhanshu Mohan Pati pleaded the matter on behalf of the state government. He was in an extramarital relationship with the widow residing in nearby Nandini village after the death of her husband. The villagers were against their relationship but Rana refused to listen to them. The incident occurred when a villager Bhagaban Pradhan barged into the house of the widow and caught the duo inside on the day of Pousha Purnima January 2, 2018. The mutilated body of Pradhan was found behind the house of a neighbour of the widow the next day. Chakapada police registered a case and arrested Rana over a complaint filed by the deceased brother.