Judge who pronounced judgement in sensational Chhabirani gang rape & murder case no more

Kendrapada: Retired District and Sessions Judge Krushna Chandra Kar, who had given lifer to the eight accused in the sensational the verdict in the sensational Chhabirani gang rape-murder case in 1980, passed away at his residence at Bhagabanpur in kendrapada district.

He was 90 and is survived by three sons and a daughter.

During his tenure in Cuttack as the District Judge, Kar had convicted eight persons to life imprisonment in connection with  the rape and murder of woman journalist Chhabirani Mohapatra in Jagatsinghpur. However, all the accused were later acquitted by Orissa High Court in 1993. In 2002, the Supreme Court had upheld Kar’s judgement and convicted all the accused to life imprisonment.  After retirement, Kar practiced in Kendrapada Court as a lawyer.

Worth mentioning, Chhabirani was gang raped and murdered on the banks of Biluakhai river on October 3, 1980 . Chhabirani and her husband Nabakishore were working with a vernacular daily in Jagatsinghpur district. The couple was targeted by some activists of the then ruling Congress for writing articles on corruption in the Government.

On the fateful day, when the couple along with their infant son, was leaving the village, the culprits waylaid them. Chhabirani managed to convince her husband to take their son to safety. Later, the miscreants took turns to rape her before killing her on Biluakhai riverbed .

Despite political pressure, Kar had sentenced all the accused to life imprisonment.