Jajpur: A Fast Track Special Court in Odisha's Jajpur district today awarded life sentence to a couple for killing their pregnant minor daughter a few years back. The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 to the convicts. The judgement was pronounced on the strength of three witnesses and evidence. 

The accused parents, Nakul Jena and Sanju Jena, were found guilty of killing their 15 year-old daughter after finding out about her pregnancy. The incident had taken place in Lakshmi Narayanpur within Binjharpur police limits in 2016. 

Nakul had been arrested after a woman from his village had reached out to police and filed a complaint. He had confessed to the murder during his interrogation. 

Investigation had revealed that the victim Ranu, a Class X student in a local school, was in a relationship with a married man and was in constant touch with him despite stringent opposition from her parents. When she did not pay heed to their disapproval of her affair, her father Nakul decided to kill her. He strangulated her to death while she was sleeping. The following day, the victim's family members had discreetly cremated her body and thrown her charred remains into a nearby river, police had told mediapersons. 

Later, investigation had established complicity of Nakul's wife Sanju in the crime.